So yesterday was 'all change' day. A day off for Team Cinderella and for some a relaxing traditional Arc Christmas lunch in a pub in Wanstead. From now shows every day except Christmas Day! I think the team are happy not to have to get up at the crack of dawn and travel miles for the early school's shows! As Sal said, we can feel a bit normal now!
I have loved the shows for kids but think they are quite tough for the cast, probably most for Dean as Dandini and Sharif as the Prince as much of the narrative is moved forward by them and they do 'talk" rather a lot. Much of their interaction is carefully positioned there by Olly for the adults.
The kids love the Ugly Sisters, Rubella, Buttons and of course Cinderella. They boo and hiss, jump up and down, shout out, wave their imaginary wands to make it all work for Cinders. They gasp and wow at the transformation, the fireworks, the smoke and then the dress. They love the Prince when he is all loved up with Cinderella and they long for him to propose to her and then to get married and live happily ever after.
I cannot say how special it is to watch the kids taken on a magical journey culminating when the dress transforms. "How did they do it?", "its a Christmas miracle!" Those words of a seven year old still chime in my ears.
But I get that its maybe not so satisfying for some of the actors when the layers of text and action designed for the adults in the audience get little or no reaction in kids only shows. The now famous 'You could hold one of your balls Sir" might get a stifled titter from the teachers in the audience, but is not intended for the kids. So the rhythm of the show for Dandini and the Prince is probably unbalanced to some degree by this. They don't get the feedback from the audience to ride that comic moment. The undercutting irony, the asides and the double entendres fly over most of the kids' heads.
This is all of course because a panto is essentially designed to be an entertainment for all the family together, and performing for a kids audience alone cannot really deliver on this bit. I suspect that the same would also be true for an adult only audience. Some of the stuff (ie; the splosh scene) might just seem plain silly, which of course it is! But seen together by children and parents there is hopefully something there for all of them.
Parents delight in their children's delight. Some parents who come to a panto may not expect to enjoy it for themselves but love to see their children enthralled and happy. That's possibly enough. If on the other hand they find themselves drawn into the laughter and the emotion then that can't be a bad thing can it? At the very least it means they don't have to sit there bored for two hours!
For me the joy of shows such as Matilda, Warhorse, Wind in the Willows, Billy Elliot, The Sound of Music, BFG to name but a few we have seen over the years, is that they include us all in the experience. My family like many others have schlepped up to the West End and been prepared to spend a lot of money in the week between Christmas and the new year just to delight in that shared family time at a show. We have always loved that.
Whilst I would not dream of putting our little panto into that league, nor even daring to compare the experience, I do believe that in some small way we have offered an uplifting, funny and sweet story in our Cinderella, that seems to have touched people's hearts in our own community because its roots are in the community. And its been fun to do it at the Broadway for the first time for us. To share joy with our community family in the Borough that has been home to Arc since 1986 is pretty special. And its an honour.
Belonging to and being of our local community means a great deal to all of us at Arc. In the Post we were recently called 'A Local Community Drama Group'. Now whilst this is never how we describe ourselves, and I must admit to having been a bit miffed by it, I do get it now. I think on reflection it was the biggest compliment to Arc perhaps because there is a feeling in the Borough that we belong here. Arc has grown out of our community here and it has nurtured us and we have nurtured it in some small way in return. And suddenly I am appreciative of this description, which hithertoo just felt to me like a dumming down of our quality and credentials as theatre makers. Now it just feels lovely, and is testament to our belonging, our home here.
Today Christmas wrapping calls and two shows this afternoon. For me its a continual joy to be in as often as I am as at each performance there are many friends, family and colleagues from here and from further afield. Its a bit like a very long party, with the panto as the spread and a lot of love to be shared.
Enough for today. Have a good one!
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