The English holiday tradtion of a Christmas pantomime takes me way back, as it should; for it is primarily (if not exclusively) a children’s event. It is not unusual for English twenty and thirtysomethings to attend a Christmas panto, but if this indeed occurs, it is simply out of nostalgia and child-like Christmas spirit that they attend, not for any semblance of legitimate theatre.
Upon entering the theatre, armed with a bottle of water to combat my ever-persistent cotton-mouth, I took my seat, expecting to relive the days of my youth in England when I saw my first Christmas panto many moons ago. While the high lasted, the memories came flushing back, inciting loud laughs at cheesy jokes and the requisite, enthusiastic audience participation. For those of you unfamiliar with the basic audience interactions, I have constructed a (very unimaginative) sample:
Character: Now, where did I put my wrench?
Audience: (In unison) It’s behind you!
Character: (Looks around, cannot see it, says) Oh, no it's not!
Audience: Oh, yes it is!
Character: Oh, no it's not!
Audience: Oh, yes it is!
And so it went, back and forth for a couple hours, sprinkling in the thinnest of plot developments along the way, until the panto reached intermission.
Upon the conclusion of intermission and my re-entrance to the theatre, I found that the high I entered with originally had for the most part died off, leaving me with an hour and a half more of a panto to watch, drug-free ...
The second half of the panto, though, in hindsight, arguably funnier than the first, really dragged on without any substance-based assistance. I started thinking things like: “I am a college student, what the hell am I doing here?” and “This is embarrassing. I read books. I read books and write papers about them. What the fuck is this?” Without the novelty of watching this panto high, my nostalgic experience of childhood whimsy was shattered.
However, along with the second (I have serious hesitations about using this word:) act, there came a couple of solid jokes here and there, aimed at the older part of the audience, as pantos often cater to part of the time.
Character: (Upon receiving a huge sum of money, says to son) Now I can afford to send you to university. (A decidedly edgy joke considering that many families will be considering the serious reality of not being able to afford to send their children to university).
Also, laughs were producing through the actors constantly taking the piss of virtually every town in Norfolk (however this, I have noticed, is not exclusive to a panto, the English love ripping each other on where they are from. Seriously, no city is safe). As I left the theatre, I felt that if I had left at intermission I would not have really missed much, but I was glad I went anyway.
In my study of a typical English Christmas this holiday season, the Christmas panto seems to fall in with England’s heightened Christmas spirit; or, the notion of keeping traditions simply because it is Christmas as opposed to any capitalist revenue-based motives. In reference to my earlier rant about commercialism in American winter holidays, I do concede that a Christmas panto is indeed a business; but when I cast my thoughts back to this time last year, the nation was buzzing about James Cameron’s Avatar. How seeing blockbuster films became affiliated with Christmas, I am unsure.
In completely unrelated news, I just booked a trip to Prague over break. More to come most definitely. This winter break is really setting the stage to be an amazing time ... LW
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