The notion of pantomime is a centuries-old tradition, born out of a combination of English folklore, Italian commedia dell'arte and travelling performance. This December, in the concrete jungle of Stratford, the ritual is played out again.I somehow missed out on this staple of British theatre growing up, so went on to my local Stratford East to see what all the fuss was about. And boy, was I in for a treat.
Rapunzel is an old fairy story, with a few panto-ish twists. Naive, innocent Rapunzel (Joanne Sandi) lives high up in her tower, exploited by her surrogate mother Witch Maddy (Michael Bertenshaw), who is using her hair to create a magic juice that will make her young again (what else?).
The other denizens of the forest (ducks, bears, etc) are in a panic. In this climate of fear, Mr, Mrs, and Baby (Harry) Bear return to their forest pad to discover that somebody has been eating their porridge! And sleeping in their beds!
This mysterious somebody, who of course turns out to be none other than (you guessed it) Goldilocks, vows to save Rapunzel and stop the witch - but she and Rapunzel get on like chalk and cheese. Will Goldilocks, Rapunzel, and the other animals manage to work together to stop the witch’s plan in time?
The cast all carry off Trish Cooke’s excellent script with energy and total belief. Replacing the knight in shining armour figure with Goldilocks (presented here as a swashbuckling, Aussie on a gap year type) is a truly fantastic move, turning the traditional love-interest storyline into a sisters doing it for themselves one, and Julie Yammanee carries it off with aplomb.
Deserving of special mention is pantomime villain/ dame Witch Maddy. Bertenshaw’s ability to soak up an audience’s hate with gusto before pushing it right back at us, without ever losing our fascination, is is unparalleled - an absolute masterclass.
It’s truly demotic: the traditional “He’s behind you!” and “No, I haven’t seen her!” call-and-responses construct a connective tissue between performers and audience. More than this, it constructs a sense of Stratford community much more strongly than I’d have expected. Rapunzel addresses themes of security at home, neighbourliness, and the scariness of the world around you, which in this context resonated with me having experienced harassment and attempted break-ins in my year living and working here. It’s strangely cathartic.
It’s all very efficiently executed, barring a few minor moments where the singers couldn’t be heard over the band. I wondered if the maximalist costumes sometimes seemed to be work slightly agains the choreography, though this is a minor quibble: elsewhere, notably a very deft hiding-in-forests sequence, the movement is strong. A West End-level number of set changes in William Fricker’s beautiful design are executed seamlessly: Stratford East punches above its weight.
I went along to Theatre Royal Stratford East fully expecting, like many not brought up on a diet of pantomime, to hate it. I left with my armour of cynicism totally stripped from me, a big smile on my face. Stratford East’s Rapunzel is an all-singing, all-dancing total joy throughout: highly entertaining both to me, my plus-one (whose first exposure to a British Christmas and to panto this was) and the kids and adults around us.
With Follies providing the perfect Christmas treat for grown ups in the National Theatre's biggest auditorium, there's now a major family show in the proscenium arch venue, the Lyttelton. It's Pinocchio, the classic story of a wooden puppet who faces many perils in his quest to become human.