19 January 2004

Pantomime, a British Tradition

One day in early October we overhead people talking about a pantomime show in Bury St. Edmunds.  The minute I heard the word “pantomime” I thought of all those white faced folks in funny clown hats who would act out scenes without using a single word.  Boy was I wrong.

We soon discovered that pantomime is the British version of our Vaudeville.  Each year from just before Christmas until the middle of January most of the larger towns in England put on a rowdy play with singing, and audience participation.  I had visions of “Rocky Horror Picture Show”.  I was anxious to see what all of the tradition was about.

The Cinderella play in Bury was completely sold out, even though it was two months until the performance.  So I settled for “Jack in the Bean Stock” in Ipswich, and booked tickets over the phone.

On Christmas Eve afternoon I hurried home from my volunteer job at Oxfam Charity Shop to pick up Jay and Catlyn.  We were all excited about our afternoon plans to see the pantomime at the Woolsey Theatre.

Ipswich is a port town with lots of shopping, crime, and beautiful old buildings.  The Woolsey Theatre’s brick exterior and a modern pointy sculpture at the entrance look like they are about 30 years old.  Inside though there is a marvelous surprise.

The theatre itself has a curved high rise of 500 seats that gradually reach all the way to the top of the small auditorium.  There isn’t a bad seat in the house.

As we entered, the rock and roll music was quite loud.  Within minutes 5 people in strange looking checkered clown-type costumes came out on stage to get the audience ready for what was to come next.  As they sang they spread out into the audience to shake hands and pat heads.

From the very beginning of the play every performer and musician were top rate. 

With jokes like…”no moos is good moos and a 24 carrot necklace which was actually 24 garden carrots.  And songs like…”Bad Moon Risin”, “Hit the road Jack” (the life-size horse, rooster and sheep puppets sang along), and “Reach Out”.

As the play ended, and the encore singing brought us to our feet to clap hands and dance to the great music, I looked over at Cat.  She was taking it all in, but not too eager to make a fool of herself.  For an instant she looked fragile, and much younger than her 10 years.

Suddenly I was overwhelmed with my feelings because I was thinking about what a fun time we’ve had this holiday season…just the three of us.  Before we came to Europe two years ago we would have had loads of visitors, and too much going on.

And I was thinking that Cat will never be 10 again.  All of these thoughts made me feel especially thankful for her life, and mine…and for all of the opportunities we’ve had together.  

As we skipped our way back in the dark to the car, re-living the happy feelings we all had during the play, we passed a group of really drunk people walking on the street.  Seeing those sad people in that condition on Christmas Eve made me appreciate life even more at Holly Lodge in the small town of Hadleigh England.  And I was especially grateful that small town life, first in France and now in England has enabled Cat to really be 10.

Annie Warmke lives in Hadleigh, England.  She writes a weekly column on life in a small town.  Someday in the not too distant future she intends to return to live at her farm near Philo, but for the time being she is a world citizen making friends in small towns wherever she goes.  You can be in touch with her through her email address:  annie@bluerockstation.com or Web Site at http://www.bluerockstation.com.        .