Theatre
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LAST SEASON’S RUN OF GOLDILOCKS ATTRACTED 84,000 THEATREGOERS Hitlist THE BEST THEATRE & DANCE*
✽✽ Sleeping Beauty Revival of Scottish Ballet’s acclaimed reimagining of the fairytale. Ashley Page’s imaginative choreography and the strong performances are well worth a second look. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sat 6–Sat 27 Dec. ✽✽ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Follow Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy through the wardrobe and into Narnia, as the Royal Lyceum recreates CS Lewis’s much- loved fantasy world. See feature, page 18. Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, Fri 28 Nov–Sat 3 Jan. ✽✽ The Wizard of Oz Ease on down the yellow brick road in the company of Dorothy and chums, as the Citz takes on L Frank Baum’s much-loved classic. Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my! Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 29 Nov–Sat 3 Jan. ✽✽ The Snow Queen Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairytale is brought to life with visual effects, puppetry, live music and great performances. Arches, Glasgow, Wed 3 Dec–Sat 3 Jan. ✽✽ Spectacular Forced Entertainment takes on the biggest theme of all: death (and how we represent it in the media). See preview, page 81. Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 4–Sat 6 Dec. ✽✽ Troop Choreographer Jane Turner’s new contemporary dance piece is a colourful look at the showgirl lifestyle, sequins and all. See preview, page 81.Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 6 Dec. ✽✽ The Witches of Eastwick Marti Pellow takes on the role of everybody’s favourite little devil, made famous by Jack Nicholson in the 1987 film. See preview, page 81. Playhouse, Edinburgh, Wed 10 Dec–Sat 3 Jan.
Three-wizard wonders Far from being a relic of the past, pantomimes are alive, kicking and taking on new blood, argues Mark Fisher
Earlier this year, I took a trip to Scarborough to check out the headquarters of the Qdos Entertainment empire. This is the organisation responsible for 21 pantomimes in the UK alone, not to mention a handful of theatres, a couple of talent agencies, 500 staff and a turnover of £50m.
Head along a corridor from the reception and you come to a gob-smackingly huge wardrobe. In this hangar-like space is a year-round operation involving the storage and maintenance of 15,000 costumes. It’s a treasure trove of multi-coloured Aladdin tunics and outrageous wigs. It takes another warehouse, the size of a supermarket, to store the sets.
While the company spends £10,000 a week on buying and repairing sets and costumes, Qdos is only one part of the pantomime market. In Scotland, it is responsible for just two: the show at the Edinburgh King’s (this year, Aladdin with old favourite Allan Stewart) and the one at His Majesty’s Aberdeen (Peter Pan with Alan Fletcher from Neighbours). Last season’s six-week run of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in Edinburgh attracted 84,000 theatregoers, a remarkable feat given the competition from rival shows at the Playhouse, Festival Theatre, Royal Lyceum and smaller venues. When you take in Scotland as a whole, the figures are formidable.
At what other time of year would it be possible to see three versions of a show and for the coincidence to pass almost without comment? Yet, The Wizard of Oz – or some version of it – is being staged at the Pavilion and Citizens’ in Glasgow and Motherwell Theatre. Doubtless all will do great box office.
80 THE LIST 27 Nov–11 Dec 2008
And although the days of music hall, which produced a generation of panto stars, have long gone, there is firm evidence of young blood rejuvenating the form regardless. If there was anyone who considered Karen Dunbar as just some face off the telly, they would have had their preconceptions shattered by her dazzling panto debut in last year’s Sleeping Beauty at the Glasgow King’s. Her turn as Nanny Begood gave her co-star, the hitherto unassailable Gerard Kelly, a run for his money, so perfectly attuned was she to the feel-good spirit of the show. The prospect of her return in Cinderella (pictured, above) along with Kelly and the tremendous Andy Gray, previously a stalwart of the Edinburgh King’s, is scintillating.
Neither is such young blood the prerogative of the big city pantos. I didn’t see Cinderella at Stirling’s MacRobert Arts Centre last year, but everyone said author and ugly sister Johnny McKnight was exceptional. The man more normally found behind the wheel of Glasgow’s Random Accomplice is not only back in Stirling this year with Mother Goose, but his Cinderella is being given a second production at the Byre, St Andrews. He’s certainly one to watch. All of which is evidence that the panto and Christmas show is in resilient shape, able to embrace new influences while remaining hugely popular, not to mention commercially lucrative. The only question now is who’ll come up with the best Barack Obama gag and will it be as funny as the credit crunch quips?
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