It was that time of year where thousands of people come together to experience one of my most loved experiences in Canterbury! The pantomime! This year Peter Pan has came to the Marlowe Theatre stage. A fun-filled performance with lots of audience participation, special effects, promising to be the biggest and funniest pantomime ever! This year starring Shaun Williamson (EastEnders and Extras), Wendi Peters (Coronation Street), children’s favourites Gemma Hunt (CBeebies’ Swashbuckle), David Ribi (Channel 5’s Milkshake) and Samantha Dorrance (CBeebies’ The Tale Of Mr Tumble), including the Marlowe favourites Ben Roddy and Lloyd Hollett.
On boxing day, I was offered two tickets to go to the pantomime, with a friend. I immediately accepted the tickets when Emily arrived me and LJ hurried into the car and headed towards the gorgeously lit Marlowe Theatre. After queuing to get LJ a traditional flashing souvenir that he could light up displaying an array of colours, we headed to our seats.
A screen was displayed on the stage, at random points a video link of a member from the audience would appear, showing their reactions and displaying a comical tag line for example: ‘this lady would rather be at home watching Eastenders’. The theatre filled with laughter, excitement and entertainment before the show had even began!
The presenters voice over started, performers took places on the end of the aisles, clapping and cheering enticing the audience to get involved. I noticed this build up was effective and the anticipated excitement amongst 1200 people was creating an overwhelming desire for me to clap and cheer along with them. I am very interested in researching the psychological effect of being in a large crowd and how, when others participated, I became more driven to.
Performers immediately began talking to the audience, creating the magic, building humorous and enjoyable relationships with us. I felt completely relaxed and comfortable. They had created an incredible atmosphere for audience participation that even when a performer shouted ‘goodbye’, I shouted ‘bye’ without hesitation. I feel this was very effective and welcomed a more engaging and exciting experience.
It is important when working with an audience to remember if you acknowledge and ask the audience to participate in a performance then you must acknowledge them from beginning to end. I learnt this during my creative project module at university, my lecturer advised me to be clear of points of interaction and be aware to react when other moments may arise unexpectedly.
There was a moment in Peter Pan that reminded me of this important factor, Tinkerbell was talking to a character and someone in the audience said something out loud. Tinkerbell immediately turned her attention to the audience member and interacted with them. Unfortunately I didn’t catch what was said however, I feel that this interaction matters so that the audience feel truly involved and it provides a sense of importance as an audience member.
Image: Paul Clapp
I was in fits of laughter throughout this performance it provided jokes for the children and hidden innuendos for the adults that made it entertaining for all the family. For me one of the most comical moments in the pantomime were when they brought out their barrel of fruit and performed joke after joke all cleverly created using different pieces of fruit to give hilarious punchlines each time for example: “that was a turnip for the books!”
I very much want to include moments of comedy during my performance and want to experiment with various props to help create jokes. I am going to take some time to think and play with some ideas that children might find funny and how I can work some of these playful jokes into my piece. It’s also important for me to engage with children directly and make sure the jokes are working effectively. This will assist my discovery of what does and doesn’t make children laugh. Laughter is the best feeling and sound of all and I strive to put smiles upon my audiences faces just like the pantomime has done for us.
The story of Peter Pan was told through the mediums of song, dance, special effects, stage changes and well known characters, from Peter Pan himself to overreacting pirates and not to forget the traditional large man in many different ladies dresses! The set was stunning and has inspired me with creative ideas for a beautiful backdrop design, one of their backdrops represented a magical blue starry sky where Peter, Jane and her brothers flew through on their travels to Neverland. Lights shone through this stunning dark blue and almost emerald green fabric with lit up stars behind, this design was visually beautiful.
All these elements of the performance whisked its audience into the story and provided a truly interactive and entertaining evening. LJ was shouting in his seat to encourage Peter Pan to defeat Captain Hook, he was stomping his little feet, “I do believe, I do believe in fairies!” At the end of the performance the entire audience stood on their feet singing and dancing with the actors. A magnificent shared experience, that simply should not be missed and I cannot wait for next years!
Overall, for my performance purposes this pantomime has inspired me in certain creative areas alongside encouraging me to explore props and how they can be used in jokes. I feel that this creates a clever, comical, as well as visually interesting moment to experience. The pantomime has also helped me to understand the importance of creating a relaxed atmosphere when audience participation is involved, the audience need to feel relaxed and welcomed for them to get involved. I can imagine this being incredibly daunting and challenging to an audience of 1200! However this years pantomime achieved this outstandingly.
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