A short history on the history of Pantomime

We’ve just opened Cinderella and it’s now pantomania until 12 January. Cinderella is a fantastic pantomime and it has been argued that all stories fit into seven basic plots and Cinderella fits into one called ‘Rags and riches’. The foundation to each pantomime narrative is about a downtrodden hero getting the recognition he or she deserves with a few evil stepmother, fairies and giants thrown in.

Panto is a very specific type of production – albeit very silly – and is influenced by many different types of performance including Commedia Dell’Arte and Music Hall and are always based on fairy tales.

Commedia Dell’Arte dates back to the 1600s in Italy and France where actors would improvise their way through a plot with collection of stock characters such as Harlequin (principal boy), his true love (romantic lead), Pantaloon (over protective father), Pulchinello (the father’s hapless servant) and Clown (the unsuitable suitor). Pulchinello evolved into Mr Punch from Punch and Judy and the influences can be seen to this day not only in panto but in sitcoms such as The Simpsons and Faulty Towers.

The rise of Music Hall performance developed the popularity of slapstick and influenced Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy and their classic routines are pure pantomime. Another key similarity between music hall and pantomime is the use of songs of the day which is something the Coliseum sticks by. Although based on old traditions, panto has to keep re-inventing itself with modern references and songs to keep with the times otherwise it wouldn’t remain popular.

Slapstick also derives from something known as Italian Night Scenes which were mime pieces because Italian performers couldn’t speak English. This and Commedia Dell’Arte developed into Harlequinade which is very similar to the pantomime routines we see today but with no dialogue.

The first use of the word Pantomime emerged in the early 18th Century in a “ballet-pantomime”. Harlequinade had become so popular that the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane mounted their own pantomime. In 1773 the Theatre Royal staged the pantomime that has a direct descendant today – Jack the Giant Killer.

It may sounds obvious now but fairy tales are also a huge influence. French writer Charles Perrault laid the foundations for fairy tales from existing folk tales. He popularised these stories such as Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Many of these were then re-written by the Brothers Grimm.

The specific tale of Cinderella has its own history, and I’ll tell you about it next week.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

REVIEW OF THE SEASON (so far)

Good Morning! Good Afternoon! Good Evening to you all, dear Readers! Hope you are well!
Let me take this opportunity (the opportunity to write a blog) to write a little review of the season so far.

It is just my humble opinion so don't judge me too harshly!

For starters, let's give a round of applause to everyone who was and still is involved in the renovation of the Coliseum. Many years from now this will be written in history books. Imagine a glimpse of electronic pages of a history book some 100 years into the future. May even mention a few names!

I wonder if the author of that book will mention anything about that air conditioning at the opening night of The Importance of Being Earnest that almost froze everyone?! ;-) Fixed now of course…

This brings us to the next topic, the shows and our experiences.

By the way, how was the view of the stage for those who were lucky to sit in the centre seats in the stalls where the centre aisle to be?

I, personally, haven't had a chance to inspect the view from there yet, however the circle still steals my preference!

Now, Oliver, was amazing!! Way to go, Congress Players, way to go!!! Please come back with more!
All in all, so far, organisation has been excellent, 10 points (out of 10);

Customer Service, 10 points; have you yet spotted the new front of house volunteer staff? I have heard they are an awesome bunch!:)

Performances and Directing, professionalism from the start, 10 points!

Right now, it is 1.25 am and I am finding myself grinning through writing this short review feeling all warm and fuzzy inside...

That just says that my personal experience so far has obviously been a very positive one. Wishing same to all!

Jane
Coliseum Ambassador and Front of House Volunteer

Serious fun...

It’s just one day until the first performance of Cinderella – oh yes it is – one day! What a mad few weeks we’ve had putting the show together and I’m sure they’ll be another mad seven weeks ahead of us as the show goes on.

I’ve said this many times before but the Coliseum’s annual panto is the biggest production of the year, not only because of how long the show runs (until 12 January – tickets still available) but also the scale of the production.

The wardrobe department have made 25 costumes for the principal cast and three costumes for each member of the chorus (two teams of eight). You don’t need me to tell you that that’s a lot of costumes, and they’re all made from scratch.

The production team have had to source or make all sorts of odd props including giant mallets, huge quantities of fake food, the most ridiculous being a magical moving fox’s tail.

The education department have been organising panto workshops for schools in the area, delivering much more than they would normally do for a Coliseum production.

The LX department have been finding just the right clock chimes sound effects – you’d be surprised just how many variants there are.

The amount of weird decisions that we have to make as a team during panto make you wonder what an odd job working in theatre (especially panto) is. Is that the right type of glitter? Is this the most appropriate sound of screeching tyres? Should we use mallets or frying pans to hit the dame with? Last week, one of our biggest problems was trying to fit Fine Time in a trunk without damaging his wig.

There is an internal logic to this madness though – these are all important decisions to making the quality panto that you will see on stage. Panto might look easy and improvised but it’s serious fun. There’s a thought process behind each gag and scene making it look effortless on the night. Whether it’s panto, Chekov or Shakespeare, the motivation behind the characters in the world of any specific play is really important.

These panto problems are really quite fun to have to solve.


Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

Praise for Oldham...

We’re now in the third week of panto rehearsals which means that opening night is just over a week away. You will have also had a first glimpse at the dazzling pantomime costumes designed by Celia Perkins.

The Reindeer Parade is one of many events that Oldham Council have organised for the festive period. There was the fantastic fireworks display which took place last Monday is returning with a bang (excuse the pun) after a hiatus of over ten years. Still to come there’s the Christmas Lights Switch-On on Sunday 18 November with local Olympian Nicola White, a member of Team GB’s Bronze winning Olympic Hockey team. She’ll be pushing the button with Rastamouse – anyone with kids will know exactly who that is.

They’ve also lined a great selection of themed weekends including Fairytale Christmas, Winter Wonderland and finally a Victorian Christmas Weekend complete with carousel and Dickensian characters.

Oldham Council gets some bad press – as with most councils across the country – but they do an great deal of positive things for the people of Oldham including all the events that they have programmed. The Coliseum wouldn’t have survived were it not for the continued investment from the Council. They also support organisations such as Oldham Theatre Workshop and the Gallery and Library which is a fantastic space. Although disruptive their work on the Metrolink will pay off and revitalise the town once it’s finished. Plus they provide the great resource – Go! Oldham – which is a free promotional service that lists events going on in the borough for people under 20 years old.

Oldham has a lot to be proud of, not only does it have a thriving professional theatre, art gallery and university campus, the town also holds a ‘Best City’ title and solver gilt award for community involvement from the Britain in Bloom awards which they won this year. And who could forget the beauty of the Alexandra Park where we performed Star-Cross’d. The staff at the park keep the space looking fantastic all year round and the Victorian features made great set pieces for the Coliseum production.

Anyway, back to panto. Today we’re trying out the slop scene in rehearsals, with real slop. We need to make sure the whole routine works ahead of tech week even if it is a bit messy…

See you at panto.

Kevin Shaw
Artisitc Director

Time to get festive...

It’s all go here at the Coliseum as we near the end of the second week of panto rehearsals and the cast of eight have been working incredibly hard.

During the day they work on the script with me, songs with musical director David Bintley and choreography with Beverly Edmonds and then in the evenings the company work with the juvenile chorus. This year (as with previous years) the girls got their place in the company through the open auditions that were held back in September. They are really important for the production and are skilled dancers – some of whom have been in the Coliseum panto several years developing those skills and they undoubtedly add to the scale and quality of the production.

We still have two weeks to go until the first of the 79 performances over a seven week run. It can sometimes be a daunting thought considering the scale of the production but the traditional Coliseum panto is the biggest event on the theatre’s calendar – loved by people of all ages – so all the hard work is always worthwhile.

The festive spirit has well and truly landed here at the Coliseum, especially with the Reindeer Parade on Saturday in the town centre. All the Cinderella cast will be suited and booted in their intricate costumes put together by the talented wardrobe department. Myself and the marketing team will be hot on their heels handing out flyers for the show. It’s great to hear such positive comments from everyone who comes to see the parade about how much they’re looking forward to the panto and that they come every year. So make sure you get a good spot on the parade route to catch a glimpse of the cast.

The scenery and prop makers are working incredibly hard to respond to the many requests coming out of the rehearsal room. New ideas pop up all the time while we’re rehearsing and our team are brilliant at getting making them all a reality (and quickly).

We’re all still getting used to the new look theatre. We’re still rehearsing over in the Old Library but the cast can’t wait to get back to the theatre and start bringing the building to life with the sounds of “He’s behind you!”

See you in the theatre.

Kevins Shaw
Artistic Director

Wilde about Oscar...

We’ve not even been open a week and we’ve already had two shows on our stage! Last weekend was the spectacular Curtain Up at the Coliseum – an absolutely fantastic two evenings full of celebration for all things Coliseum. A humbling experience – people really do love this place!

This week London Classic Theatre has brought us The Importance of Being Earnest. On until Saturday this is a tale of mistaken identity set in 1890s London. A comedy of manners, full of mayhem and lots of fun. It is one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous plays and the final one he wrote. Light in tone this is considered Wilde’s masterpiece and remains his most popular play.

Oscar Wilde is one of the most famous English writers (even though he was born in Ireland) with works including Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband and The Picture of Dorian Grey – the last of which propelled him into the limelight.

Wilde also became famous for being prosecuted and imprisoned for being a homosexual – something that was a crime in Victorian England and was illegal up until 1967. Wilde was outed by The Marquess of Queensberry – the father of Wilde’s lover.

While this scandal of story dominated Wilde’s personal life his contribution to the English literary cannon is really important. His plays get performed regularly around the country – here alone his work has been performed many times over the years. Much of his writing has been transferred to the big screen, in fact there was a film made of his life staring Stephen Fry as the playwright.

Wilde’s work is sometimes viewed as light weight and I won’t argue that his unique way of bringing characters to life with zippy dialogue, witty observations and comic timing makes his work timeless. But his writing is so much more than that. The social satire is totally on point, commenting on the society of his day (the very society he wanted to belong to). His subtle reflection of the trappings of the upper classes is brilliant and something that makes him one of the best writers of the 19th Century.
See you in the theatre,

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director