It may not be PC but I’m no drama queen
IAM in pantomime this year in Redhill and loving every moment of it and so, to judge by their enthusiastic booing and cheering, are the audiences. It is innocent, delightful and very British so boo to the spoilsports who think it outdated and sexist. There are even some lunatics who believe that when the prince wakes the sleeping princess with a kiss, it is sexual assault because she has had no opportunity to consent.
Spare me! It is a fairy tale not a manual for modern living. Anyway if I had a choice between sleeping on for ever or being woken by a kiss from the man I loved and wanted to marry, I would consider it a no-brainer but some cranky MeToo types think otherwise.
Fortunately theirs remains a minority opinion but there is now a rumbling chorus of muttering against pantomime dames.
It is apparently sexist or possibly even an insult to transgenders that men dress up as women for laughs. Oh, do get a life! Soon it will be a crime to laugh at anything.
One of the great joys of pantomime is meeting the young actors, some not even out of drama school, and wondering if any of them will be tomorrow’s household names. This year I, the wicked queen in Snow White, am attended by two evil ghouls who feed on snakes and rats. Oops! That will upset People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) if some of its recent pronouncements are anything to go by.
THAT is the organisation which has objected to a village being called Wool because shearing is apparently cruel. It also objects to expressions such as “bring home the bacon” to which most of us responded “bring on the men in white coats”. Oh, dear that is probably an insult to the mentally ill.
Dammit, can’t we say anything these days without some ass taking offence? There I go again, insulting donkeys.
Anyway, back to my ghouls. As they spend the show in skeleton masks, nobody really sees them but they are two delightful and handsome young men from drama school in Guildford, called Joe and Nathan. Beautifully brought up, they give me a lift home every night no matter how long they have to hang around while I meet and greet the audience and no matter how late the show ends. Clearly their parents have taught them to be kind to old ladies. I suppose that’s sexist and ageist? Well, long may they be so.