Half way through! Oh, no it isn't!

Well, half the panto run is done and yet again it is great to give such a lot of pleasure to so many people.

We have had five sell out performances so far, with another five to come. Along with everyone else, I’m exhausted and totally ready to have tonight and tomorrow off before starting again on Wednesday.

Almost 50% of our audiences so far, if not more, have been children, many of them very young. Watching them watching me, I am reminded that children, particularly the under eights, still have the capacity to be amazed and entertained by live entertainment which touches into the very roots of childhood. The simple concepts of good and evil, colour, light and visual spectacle remain, even in this sophisticated technological age, wonderful entertainment for children and adults alike.

Live entertainment, particularly live entertainment that the whole family can watch together, is more than just passing the time. It is a shared experience, a coming together of the generations in an age old activity which transcends politics, religion and other secular interests.  That doesn’t just apply to panto, it could equally well apply to other forms of artistic entertainment or even to sports watched together. Anything that everyone can participate in whatever their age, intellect or physical limitations could apply equally well.

This weekend, I have seen children’s faces lit up with pure, innocent enjoyment at the music, dancing and colour. They have cheered the goodie and heckled the baddie (me!) with enthusiasm. They have been allowed, for a brief time, to participate in something which does not depend upon violence, bad language, strife (watch any episode of East Enders, for instance, to see strife on a daily basis) or other people’s misfortune (reference ‘Stenders again!) for entertainment. In short, they have had a bit of fun and a bit of balance put back into their lives.

That might be stretching it a bit too far for some of you, but personally I would like to see more of this (ie live entertainment and activity) for our children and less of the telly and video games.  It’s very easy to detach oneself from violence or bad behaviour in celluloid, pretending it’s not the real world (although some clearly find it difficult to do so judging by the copycat actions of a few loners) but watching something with real people that you can touch has a more profound effect.

I am looking forward to the second half of the run very much. It will be more adults in the audiences from now on – it always is – but it is equally good fun watching grown men and women regress into childhood, shouting, laughing, booing and cheering for 2 ½ hours. Hopefully they will all go home having thoroughly enjoyed themselves and been able to detach from the cares and responsibilities of reality for a short while. If they can, I shall feel it’s a job well done.