One of the things I enjoy prior to a Pantomime is getting Fleeced for a 12 page program and reading about the stars of the show. Ok so I enjoy the reading part but not the fleecing part.
You always have your main stars - in Dunstable this year the main star was Steve McFadden probably better known as his alter ego Phil Mitchell in Eastenders. Clare beat me to reading about the cast in the program and told me there was an actor she couldn't wait to see. I naturally assumed it was the Big East End Villain - it turns out I was wrong and she was actually excited to see Jasper the dog. Yes there was an actual dog in this pantomime. Owing to a small ensemble - two of which already doubled up as the pantomime cow, a real dog was required to complete the cast.
I suppose this is the first nod to modernising and keeping a Panto relevant with a newly evolving generation of audience. As a society, we are starting to become more accepting of dogs in public places. Most pubs allow us to take our two in them. We are even seeing a cacophony of dog acts on the TV talent show Britain's got Talent. This however was the first pantomime where I have ever seen a dog on the stage. He was very good and almost (I use the term loosely and only to appease Clare) upstaged Steve Mcfadden, who incidentally would have been another draw for the evolving generation of audience.
Steve's performance as the shows Chief Antagonist was fantastic and despite being a villain, was a far cry from his thuggish character on Albert Square. I must confess - we are avid Eastenders viewers so well educated to make a comparison. In the panto, Steve had a constant smile on his face, implying that he was evil through nature and enjoyed being evil. This is quite the opposite to Eastenders where he is rather miserable most of the time implying that his villainous characteristics are more the result of nurture and the effect of his tough paper round.
The Pantomime had many modern and relevant jokes along with a sprinking of the old classics. I must admit, any pantomime that makes jokes about veganism, vegetarianism, food intolerance and political correctness, whilst classing as edgy can also be considered very relevant in the society we live in. Incidentally no jokes were made about my beloved football team as it appears the cast were Luton intolerant.
The music was also Fairly modern and interestingly the largest nod towards Post Modernism was the blending and remixing of Eminems "Loose Yourself" with the Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr Blue Sky." A combination which I can hands up say I have never requested from a DJ, although in retrospect I think I might in future as it actually worked.
another of the Pantomime's features which I class as modern and also original owing to never seeing it before was the use of a drone to pick a suitor from the audience for the pantomime dame.
Finally one of the overarching themes of the pantomime was Climate change. This is obviously a subject with huge relevance at present due to the amount of people who are current using eco friendly (assumption made) adhesives with non plastic packaging (second assumption) to stick themselves to motorways, in a bid to prevent Ambulances from getting people to hospital and make us all listen to them. Take note extinction rebellion - pantomime can spread the same message, without making people late for work.
Altogether I think the Grove Theatre pantomime this year was engaging for all ages of audience and it also did a fantastic job of keeping the traditional form of entertainment relevant for a new generation. The proof of the pudding will be how many of those audience members return next year for Beauty and the Beast.
