Show will goon.. oh yes it will
Virtual curtain rises on great dames as pantos move online
WITH Scotland’s theatres shuttered, one of the great Christmas rituals is ruled out for 2020.
The outing to the panto, complete with sparkly wands, reindeer jumpers and flashing deely-boppers, is another victim of the pandemic.
But that does not mean there will be no pantomimes this festive season.
Theatres around the country have risen to the challenge of moving online, or finding a way to perform that fit in with the government guidelines.
Scottish actor Neil John Gibson has spent the past six Decembers bouncing around the stage of the Howden Theatre in Livingston wearing a wig and high heels.
In summer, he realised this year could look very different.
“I knew it was going to be a weird Chri stmas,” the 38-year-old said. “I didn’t want audiences to miss out. When I was young we never went to the theatre but we always went to the panto.”
He has happy memories of roaring “He’s behind you” at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow and of enjoying the efforts of the Kirky Players in his home town of Kirkintilloch.
“I remember Gerard Kel ly, the amazing costumes,
the
sweeties being thrown into the audience. In Kirkintilloch, the cast would run round the town hall. Everyone would feel part of it.
“I want to make sure theatres don’t lose that and that people come together. It’s such a great Christmas tradition.”
Neil’s response to lockdown has been to use the pandemic as the basis of his own online production.
The Real Dames of Pantoland brings together six dames to appear in a show called The Real Housewives of Pantoland. But, because of lockdown, the show has been moved online. Neil is Carina V Ross and Alan McHugh, a longtime dame at His Majesty’s in Aberdeen, is Helen St Mirren.
There’s been a lot of making it up as they go along.
Alan has worn some wild costumes over the year – a washing machine, a full afternoon tea with a cake stand as a hat – and has a few in his personal collection. So he was sorted for wardrobe.
Everyone else was going to hire outfits – until the theatrical hire agencies had to close. So the rest of the cast are having to DIY with scarves and blouses. Neil said: “It’s all based on Zoom calls and group chat so it’s like seeing behind the scenes of a pantomime.
“It’s the first panto I’ve written but I know I can break the rules.”
He’s added his own sweet twists to panto traditions. Buttons is played by Craig McCulloch, who is deaf. All his lines are in British Sign Language. He falls in love with one of the dames, Margaret Knickersbig, who can’t sign.
Craig will be doing a signed version of the show for the deaf, in character, as if he’s watching it for the first time.
Neil hopes folk will get on their sparkly dresses, crack out the Maltesers and make an occasion of watching the show.
He said: “We are encouraging families to get together and watch the show on Christmas day.
“The cast talk to the audience and there’s a few ‘ he’s behind you’ moments.
“It’s a panto for people who love panto and also a show for people who think panto is not their thing. It’s something for the whole family to watch together.”
● The Real Dames of Pantoland will be on YouTube from December 21-January 12.