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Ashdown Pantomimers - Arabian Nights
Pantomime! It's the pantomime! It's time for the pantomime! Oh no it's
not - oh yes it is!
I have a child-like enthusiasm for this greatest of British traditions
which I hope will never dim. No other medium does it for me like the pantomime.
Not your glitzy, over hyped, provincial effort splattered with D-list soap-star
celebrities and way too much on the mike. No! I mean the village hall, plastic
chairs, six quid, "there's Brian making a fool of himself again" kind of
affair. A local pantomime! For local
people!
And now it's here again - the brilliant banishment of those January
blues - and I get to play the dame! 18 months in this fantastic freaky village
and a life time ambition is at last fulfilled. Hurrah!
 The best thing about the pantomime for me is that it does not pretend to
be anything else - no clever opinions are required. It's real theatre. Like
carnival - live and happening. Audiences are young and old and can be
wonderfully uninhibited, freed from the shackles of polite coughing and applied
applause. Boo if you want to sing, laugh, cheer- heckle if you dare.
I love it too because it is the true triumph of the amateur. Ridiculous
amounts of work and a whole range of skills go into the staging of a full
blown, [almost] polished village panto. All so that us old hams with a day-job
can show off in a frilly frock or a silly wig for once, stuffing up our lines
with gusto.
It's the spirit that counts, the effort and pride that is piled into the
love of it. It's in every comedy prop, each over-ambitious special-effect, all
the stress of the director and each tiny cut of the costumes [it's especially
in the costumes].
Never perfect but always perfect. Everyone's a winner in the end. Those
who come to village pantos come with forgiveness even before they step through
the door. Everyone's done their best - and I think I've seen that bloke in the
Co-op.
The West End it aint. There will be odd disasters, dropped cues, and
certainly no top ‘C' but the sail will be up and the ship heading somewhere. In
the last 2 weeks we have already had to navigate the rolling waves of losing
the principal girl, one half of the comedy duo and the eunuch [it's Arabian
nights] to illness. Good job the back end of the camel was able to step up at
such short notice.
Frantic final rehearsals are fully underway. Tonight we all got struck
down by that first run-through feeling - not nice, but there's no stopping us
now. The show will go on, and it will
be more than alright on the night.
So come and forgive us. After all, we're doing it for you ....
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Weds 23rd and Thurs 24th at 6.45
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Fri 25th and Saturday 26th at 7.45pm,
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Saturday Matinee at 2.30 pm.
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Freshfield Hall.
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£6 for adults and £4 for children.
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