Are Krankies too rude for the panto? Oh yes they are
Parents demand closure of Dick Whittington in Manchester due to ‘lewd and offensive’ humour
THERE is a longstanding and proud tradition in British pantomime of double entendres and jokes which stray a bit close to the bone.
But one panto may have gone a little too far, after it sprinkled its script with forthright references to the human anatomy and what can only be referred to as adult humour.
Parents have now called for the “lewd and offensive” pantomime at Manchester Opera House, starring The Krankies and former Doctor Who star John Barrowman, to be scrapped.
One mother has even submitted an official complaint about the production of Dick Whittington, saying it was “too smutty” for children.
Natalie Wood said that, during the show, Barrowman fondled co-star Jimmy Krankie’s breasts, and also invited audience members to chant “Alice loves Dick!”
Not only that, but at one point Wee Jimmy Krankie, played by Janette Tough, poked her finger out of her trousers, emulating a penis. Ms Wood, a swimming instructor who attended the show with six children aged three to 12, said: “The main issue for us was the actual fondling of Jimmy Krankie’s breasts and all the different cheap smutty jokes.
“Normally we share the jokes from the show afterwards – [however] these kind of jokes you would have to discourage the children from repeating and/or acting out.”
Roy Hudd, the veteran entertainer who has starred in, written or directed more than 50 pantomimes, said there was a place for innuendo, but they “should be aimed at the children”.
“You cannot do rude jokes. My yardstick for writing gags is Laurel and Hardy or Dad’s Army who made adults and children laugh,” he told the BBC.
In her letter to the theatre, Ms Wood said her son Ellis, 11, and stepdaughter Amy, 12, had begun to copy some of the jokes in the show, much to her embarrassment. She said: “My children were repeating ‘Alice loves Dick!’ and sticking their fingers out of their trousers for a pretend penis throughout the evening.
“This is not acceptable and my children required far too much explaining about adult humour for a family show.” Ms Wood added: “Our family is disgusted with this production. It has ruined our annual Christmas panto outing and left us feeling uncomfortable and concerned about what the children were exposed to. “We are far from prudes, but there has to be boundaries where children are concerned. I have never been a pantomime where I felt so uncomfortable. The whole show was very sexualised.”
One local primary school teacher said she was also concerned about the show after seeing it with her class. “I’ve seen a lot of pantos in my time, but this was a step too far – all the staff agreed it was wholly inappropriate,” she said. “I felt really uncomfortable watching it with my class. They were all gasping and saying, ‘This is really rude’.”
Qdos Entertainment, which produced the show, said: “The script does make use of double entendre and part of that is a play on the names of the characters.
“None of the humour within the show is intended to cause offence of any kind.”
The controversy follows a row over a panto in Cambridge which included a scene in which a female character mimed shaving her ‘intimate area’. One teacher who took a party of her pupils to the see Rapunzel demanded a refund after describing the performance as “vulgar”.