Anyone who hasn’t attended a pantomime performance might be a little surprised by what’s happening on the stage.
The shows have an element of improv and audience participation that we don’t expect to see in a theatre setting. But that’s part of the fun.
Audiences in Sidney will have a chance to see exactly what it’s all about when the cast of the Peninsula Players take to the stage this month to present Cinderella, the Panto.
The storyline is familiar, of course.
Prince Charming is hosting a ball and everyone in the village is invited, including Cinderella and her stepsisters, Beryl and Cheryl.
Beryl and Cheryl are totally self-centred and, along with their mother, Devilia, treat Cinderella pretty shabbily. Cinderella’s father, Baron Hardup does his best to help her but is under the thumb of Devilia, his second wife.
Fortunately, Cinderella has a fairy godmother to keep an eye on her and the baron’s manservant, Buttons, who will do anything for her.
There’s also a chorus, two spiders and two uncannily human-looking trees.
“This is a Christmas-based performance of musical comedy for the whole family,” said Alan Haynes, the director of the Peninsula Players’ performance.
“It’s a musical comedy based on Cinderella and incorporates music and dance, and just a lot of fun.”
Part of the fun stems from the fact that the script for the show, as in all pantomime performances, is pretty loose and will adapt to the audience's prompting.
“The cast actually talks to the audience and encourages them to join in and help out with the story,” said Haynes. “The audience cheers on the heroes and yells out at the bad people in the show. The whole thing is just hilarious.”
The show cast ranges from 11 to characters in their 60’s and the characters are not always constrained by the gender line of the characters they play.
“In this show, for example, the ugly stepsisters are played by men and believe me, no one would mistake them as women,” said Haynes.
It’s important to note that the Peninsula Players did not conceive of the art form on their own, nor is it a recent innovation. Pantomime goes back hundreds of years and one of the most popular is Cinderella. Although various versions of the story had existed for a long time, it became very popular in the 1800s when the pumpkin carriage and glass slipper were introduced.
It wasn’t until 1860 that the stepsisters became ugly.
The story is always adapted to current societal norms and Hayes expects that this year will be no different.
“Pantomime is a wonderful way to tell this story, especially at Christmas and we manage to put elements of the season into every performance,” said Haynes. “Our audiences range from 6 to much older, and everyone finds themselves laughing and cheering.”
Performances at the Mary Winspear Centre run Dec. 21-28 and tickets are available at marywinspear.ca/event/cinderella-panto.
