Panto in Ireland
Feb. 1st, 2011 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildforce71Two of three entries tonight.
I went to the best panto I've ever been to on Sunday night. I spent most of Monday writing the story I'm going to post in a couple of minutes, featuring the Megaship crew going to a panto. Yes, the ways of my mind are mysterious. But since I know there's almost no panto tradition in America and various other places, I thought I'd explain a little bit about it first.
All my examples are from Aladdin, as watched by me two days ago.
Panto has a long and honorable tradition starting in ballet, but nowadays it's a show in its' own right. It's hugely interactive; the cast chat with the audience, comment on things other characters are doing, and ask for advice when faced with dilemmas. They may or may not follow the audience's advice based on the plot. Eg:
Widow Twanky (Aladdin's mother): Boys and girls, should I swap Aladdin's old lamp for a nice new one?
Audience: No!
Widow Twanky: I will then. Ah, he'll love it!
There's always a fair amount of social commentary:
The Emperor: Where has this (fabulously rich) prince come from?
Very Camp Visor: Ireland.
The Emperor: He's a liar!
Very Camp Visor: Why do you say that?
The Emperor: There are no rich people left in Ireland!
Audience: (Groans and boos)
Anytime the villain appears - which is always from stage right - the audience boo. That's a rule. If the hero says something sad, you 'aww'. That's another rule. There's a lot of singing, a lot of slapstick, a lot of really obvious jokes. The audience is encouraged to join in; the comic relief guy will always teach the audience to repsond to a particular line or event. In this show, if any cast member said 'one two three!' the audience had to yell 'Ah-so!' If the cast think the audience aren't trying hard enough, they'll stop the show and make us do it again. Often they'll divide the audience - first one side, then the other - to see which side is trying better. Or they might put adults against children, or balcony against stalls.
Since the show I saw was the last of the run, there were extra tricks and jokes played by the cast on each other, and it was a little more slapstick than it might have been otherwise.
The special guest star is a long-standing tradition; this year we had Mikey Grahame, part of Boyzone, as the evil Abanazar. This led to extra jokes when the voice of his 'master' was provided by Louis Walsh, Boyzone's manager. Louis is also famous for judging on You're a Star, Ireland's answer to America's got Talent, and all his voiceovers were given in that style:
Master of the World: Abanazar, your last trick was truly inspired. The crowd loves you! Keep it up and you could go all the way!
There's always a very camp gay, though that role has eased off in the last few years. The Visor was only in one scene with only a few lines; several years ago when I saw Sleeping Beauty, the Queen's mirror was the Camp Gay and was in several scenes. There's also usually an older woman character, played by a man in drag; it was the Widow Twanky in this show, and he was amazing.
This was our fabulous Aladdin, Fra Fee, on a break from playing Billy in Dirty Dancing. That is his 'poor' costume, and the lamp, but I don't know where he is - that's not any part of the theatre I saw. This version of Aladdin, unusally, was not based on the Disney movie; there were no Disney songs, the genie was a young woman, and of course Widow Twanky was present. The Visor featured only very briefly and Abanazar, the bad guy, was a sorcerer.
The Gaiety is the home of Irish panto. If you're anything in the Irish entertainment system, and the Gaiety wants you for panto, you do it, no matter what else you might be doing - Fra took a break from Dirty Dancing to do this show. They've been running pantos for something like 160 years. There's a dance school in Dublin, the Billie Barrie school, and they've been providing dancers for 40 years - some of their kids have literally grown up on the Gaiety's stage.
tl:dr; if you're ever in Ireland around Christmas, go see a panto. You won't regret it, I promise. Just make sure and go with someone who'll join in with it!
I went to the best panto I've ever been to on Sunday night. I spent most of Monday writing the story I'm going to post in a couple of minutes, featuring the Megaship crew going to a panto. Yes, the ways of my mind are mysterious. But since I know there's almost no panto tradition in America and various other places, I thought I'd explain a little bit about it first.
All my examples are from Aladdin, as watched by me two days ago.
Panto has a long and honorable tradition starting in ballet, but nowadays it's a show in its' own right. It's hugely interactive; the cast chat with the audience, comment on things other characters are doing, and ask for advice when faced with dilemmas. They may or may not follow the audience's advice based on the plot. Eg:
Widow Twanky (Aladdin's mother): Boys and girls, should I swap Aladdin's old lamp for a nice new one?
Audience: No!
Widow Twanky: I will then. Ah, he'll love it!
There's always a fair amount of social commentary:
The Emperor: Where has this (fabulously rich) prince come from?
Very Camp Visor: Ireland.
The Emperor: He's a liar!
Very Camp Visor: Why do you say that?
The Emperor: There are no rich people left in Ireland!
Audience: (Groans and boos)
Anytime the villain appears - which is always from stage right - the audience boo. That's a rule. If the hero says something sad, you 'aww'. That's another rule. There's a lot of singing, a lot of slapstick, a lot of really obvious jokes. The audience is encouraged to join in; the comic relief guy will always teach the audience to repsond to a particular line or event. In this show, if any cast member said 'one two three!' the audience had to yell 'Ah-so!' If the cast think the audience aren't trying hard enough, they'll stop the show and make us do it again. Often they'll divide the audience - first one side, then the other - to see which side is trying better. Or they might put adults against children, or balcony against stalls.
Since the show I saw was the last of the run, there were extra tricks and jokes played by the cast on each other, and it was a little more slapstick than it might have been otherwise.
The special guest star is a long-standing tradition; this year we had Mikey Grahame, part of Boyzone, as the evil Abanazar. This led to extra jokes when the voice of his 'master' was provided by Louis Walsh, Boyzone's manager. Louis is also famous for judging on You're a Star, Ireland's answer to America's got Talent, and all his voiceovers were given in that style:
Master of the World: Abanazar, your last trick was truly inspired. The crowd loves you! Keep it up and you could go all the way!
There's always a very camp gay, though that role has eased off in the last few years. The Visor was only in one scene with only a few lines; several years ago when I saw Sleeping Beauty, the Queen's mirror was the Camp Gay and was in several scenes. There's also usually an older woman character, played by a man in drag; it was the Widow Twanky in this show, and he was amazing.
This was our fabulous Aladdin, Fra Fee, on a break from playing Billy in Dirty Dancing. That is his 'poor' costume, and the lamp, but I don't know where he is - that's not any part of the theatre I saw. This version of Aladdin, unusally, was not based on the Disney movie; there were no Disney songs, the genie was a young woman, and of course Widow Twanky was present. The Visor featured only very briefly and Abanazar, the bad guy, was a sorcerer.
The Gaiety is the home of Irish panto. If you're anything in the Irish entertainment system, and the Gaiety wants you for panto, you do it, no matter what else you might be doing - Fra took a break from Dirty Dancing to do this show. They've been running pantos for something like 160 years. There's a dance school in Dublin, the Billie Barrie school, and they've been providing dancers for 40 years - some of their kids have literally grown up on the Gaiety's stage.
tl:dr; if you're ever in Ireland around Christmas, go see a panto. You won't regret it, I promise. Just make sure and go with someone who'll join in with it!
