I’ve been lucky to work professionally in pantomimes, but my love for the art from started, as many people’s is did, with one of my first visits to the theatre. The Exeter Northcott Theatre has a long heritage of practitioners producing top-class panto, originally introduced there by John Durnin.
It was here at this venue I can remember many years of happily attending the panto with family, friends and audiences from across the county. For some this annual outing would be the first or only trip to the theatre that year.
My first pantomimes
My first panto dates back further than this to a local amateur theatre group in a market town in rural Devon. A friend of my parents was performing in Aladdin so we went along to support. Nearly seven years later I joined the group to take part in my first pantomime on stage. Later taking on roles such as Director, Pantomime Dame, Writer, Set Designer, and Stage Manager often (rather ambitiously) all at once!
Professional pantos
I am lucky that today I work professionally as a writer and director. It’s surprisingly similar to the amateur theatre groups up and down the county that produce pantomimes year-on-year. All the key ingredients are there; all the expected traditions “he’s behind you “and “oh yes he is“ and the audience is still packed with families making an annual pilgrimage to the theatre. Pantomime is a gateway to a lifelong love affair with theatre we must protect.
A life long love affair
So why do I love Pantomime so much? There is the obvious intergenerational appeal but it’s more than that. Pantomime, or at least a half decent one, can be filled with more unadulterated joy, creativity, and imagination than other forms of theatre scarcely manage. Laughter and love, the defeat of evil in the face of adversity, and the quest for bravery, adventure, and lifelong happiness is something the world can always do with more of.
