Yesterday after learning how to cut and paste...Tony and I went to see Babes in the Wood at the Putney Arts Theatre.
IT WAS WONDERFUL - British pantomime at its best.
For my non British readers - I will try to describe what pantomime is.
As a child one of the highlights of my year was to be taken to London to see the Pantomime. When living in Crickhowell, I thoroughly enjoyed helping with the makeup for the town’s annual panto. Pantomime is colourful, hilariously funny, bizarre, fantastical, and much more, and last night was no exception.
There is always a beautiful princess, played by a woman. The hero, in this case Robin Hood, is also played by a woman. The oversized ‘Dame’ made up to the extreme....is played by a man. There is a jester type (in this case the half brother of Ricky Gervais) , and the villain, who played the part of the Sheriff of Nottingham, played by a man....and last night’s villain was one of the best I have ever seen. Then of course the chorus and a spattering of adorable children. In this production there are two amazing little girls.
With a great deal of interaction between the cast and the audience, it’s an opportunity to immerse oneself into a magical and slightly crazy world , something I have always enjoyed doing.
Pantomime is earthy....it’s back to basics, and oh so much fun. It’s theatre as it was in Shakespears day. It crosses divides....men play women, women play men, and an exaggeration of colour and costume are key to the overall effect.
I left the theatre last evening feeling exhilarated and fulfilled, with a sense of having been part of a very human experience!
Yesterday was the last night for this particular panto....I am already looking forward to next year.
Until my scanner and images are with me, I have limited media...and so though this image of chickens I painted in Brussells in 2007 sort of expressed the vibrancy and energy of the pano last night. This image is oil on canvas 5ftx4ft
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As I write this, I am waiting for the carpet people to arrive........quite
exciting really.
More about workshops and painting water colour portraits at The Quinlan Center for the Arts in Georgia, tomorrow.
A Bientot
Restaurant reviewers usually end their piece with “.. and my dining companion also thoroughly enjoyed their meal (of slow baked alligator steak in a marmite and octopus ink glaze, with lightly steamed Japanese knot-weed and sautéed oak bark chippings) and adds...”.
So Janet’s Babes in the Wood companion adds:
Panto – How to test if you’re a green or red apple
For Brits-abroad suffering Panto deprivation on reading Janet’s blog, the only answer is (as they did in Crickhowell) to DIY, put on a show, yourselves, because Babes was done by an excellent amateur dramatics company (who must all have been green apples). And for the non-Brits reading this the actor and audience interaction Janet mentions are great shouts of “Oh No it isn’t” - “Oh Yes it is”, and “Look behind You!” and hisses and boo’s for the villain, Ohh’s for the lost Babes, and whistles for the Principle Girl (Maid Marion) and for the Principle Boy (who always has fab legs in tight tights!). And for the grown ups, the dame’s patter is usually full of double entendre’s. Plus a great singalong song at the end of the show.
So, to find out is you’re a green or red apple, or a green apple hiding under a red skin, go to a good old fashioned British Christmas Panto, and if you can really really really join in, and wave a flashing glowing magic wand (as Janet did) then you’ve lots of greenness. If, on the other hand, you’re red with embarrassment, then obviously you’re ......
Incidentally, I’m sure Panto’s are at this time of year, not because it’s Christmas, but because of the ancient pagan celebration of the winter solstice, hence all the reversals, not only Girl as Boy and man as Dame, but downfall of upper-class villains and success of downtrodden hero and heroine, etc.
But what if you’re a mixed red/green, a russet like me? Then you do join in, but not too loud, but the main indicator is that you get as excited as Janet did in teaching her to Cut & Paste!