With Easter eggs lining the shelves of many a supermarket, pantomime tickets are yet again lining the pockets of audience members and purses of theatres.
Back in 2014, the British Theatre Guide reported that the Easter panto season boasted seven titles produced by 11 production companies playing in 37 theatres. Four years on, and the Easter panto industry has dramatically expanded with 2018 seeing 11 titles produced by 13 companies playing at an impressive 78 venues.
The Easter season now equates to approximately 25% of the Christmas season in terms of theatres presenting or hosting a pantomime. The majority of venues will receive a touring production with Wicked Productions joining forces with Jordan Productions this year for Alice in Wonderland. This is the first season the two companies have worked together, and indeed Jordan Productions' first foray into non-Christmas territory. Of all the companies, Anton Benson Productions and Enchanted Entertainment have the most extensive tours, with Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast calling at 33 venues between them and accounting for over 40% of the entire season.
Easter pantomimes provide a welcome opportunity for younger producers to cut their teeth and begin a career, starting out at smaller venues who may not even produce a Christmas panto. A look at the Easter season shows a marked difference to the make-up of its Christmas sister as many of its companies have less than ten years' experience, with producers slowly establishing themselves as out-of-season pantomime specialists with a view to graduate to the main festive period.
With pantomimes now running all year round, we've already seen Joseph Purdy Productions' Rapunzel (17 March), Tom Rolfe Productions' half-term Jack and the Beanstalk (13 to 14 February) and Tom Rolfe Productions and Liam Mellor's Randy Robin Hood (15 February). It may now just be the case that on any day of the year, at least one UK venue plays host to a professional pantomime production.
In addition to half term, Easter, summer and Halloween pantomimes, the form is also presented at the UK's open arts festivals such as Brighton, Buxton and Edinburgh, with Holiday Parks such as Butlins and Haven both commissioning pantomimes as entertainment throughout their spring and summer seasons. You can even find a pantomime every summer aboard the MV Bretagne sailing between Portsmouth and St Malo.
As well as proving popular with holidaymakers and theatre box offices, non-Christmas pantomimes provide some much welcome income to practitioners in the field, who are usually only resigned to practicing their craft at Christmas. This increased opportunity means younger and new-to-the-genre practitioners can gain valuable experience to then be cast in the more lucrative festive season, whilst producers get the opportunity to test out cast, crews and creatives.
Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz are still firm favourites with producers, as are lesser-known titles so as not to conflict with the Christmas season, but interestingly, as the number of productions increases, more productions are borrowing from the top 5. Whilst this Easter season sees no Aladdin, it does offer a Cinderella, two Jack and the Beanstalks and even an adult Snow White. With sets of these productions often back in storage, there is plenty of stock to hire out and test or re-use scripts from past or for future seasons.
Interestingly, just as Christmas bears little mark on pantomime aside from snowy scenes and the odd festive musical number, the same can be said for the Easter season, with no productions of Mother Goose or Humpty Dumpty scheduled for 2018. The exception, or rather, egg-ception, is Peter Plank's Magical Mystery Egg, and whilst the Easter Bunny hasn't yet received a pantomime makeover, perhaps none is required if we permit Alice in Wonderland's March Hare and White Rabbit to hop along in its place.
Below you can find listings for all of 2018's Easter Pantomimes.
Alice in Wonderland
- 23 March to 15 April: Northwich Memorial Court; Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield; Lancaster Grand; Stockport Plaza; Rhyl Pavilion; Civic Centre, Whitchurch; Playhouse, Whitley Bay; Cast, Doncaster; Spa, Bridlington; Princes Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea; Roses Theatre, Tewksbury; Palace Theatre, Mansfield; The Deco, Northampton; Beck Theatre, Hayes; Palace Theatre, Redditch; The Mechanics, Burnley (Anton Benson Productions)
- 30 March to 7 April: New Theatre Royal, Lincoln
- 31 March to 2 June: Harlow Playhouse; Woodville Theatre, Gravesend; New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth; Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells; Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks; Watersmeet, Rickmansworth; Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne; Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar (Wicked Productions / Jordan Productions)
- 2 to 3 April: Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne (APL Theatre)
Beauty and the Beast
- 30 March to 4 April: Coronation Hall, Ulverston (Joseph Purdy Productions)
- 11 to 15 April: Compass Theatre, Ickenham (DK Productions)
- 24 March to 15 April: Weymouth Pavilion; Anvil, Basingstoke; Octagon, Yeovil; William Aston Hall, Wrexham; Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline; Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle; Darlington Hippodrome; Victoria Theatre, Halifax; Middleton Arena; Baths Hall, Scunthorpe; Sands Centre, Carlisle; Grove Theatre, Dunstable; Regent Theatre, Ipswich; Kings Lynn Corn Exchange; Castle Theatre, Wellingborough; Central Theatre, Chatham; White Rock Theatre, Hastings (Enchanted Entertainment)
Cinderella
- 24 March to 15 April: St Helens Theatre Royal (Regal Entertainments)
Jack and the Beanstalk
- 30 March to 8 April: Epstein Theatre, Liverpool (LHK Productions)
- 12 to 14 April: Connaught Gardens, Sidmouth (City of Light Theatre)
Pantomania!
- 29 March to 5 April: The Place, Telford (Mr Millerman Presents)
Peter Plank's Magical Mystery Egg
- 4 to 6 April: Westovian Theatre, South Shields (Walton-Gunn Productions)
Puss in Boots
- 28 March to 15 April: Dugdale Centre, Enfield
Red Riding Hood
- 6 to 7 April: Phoenix Theatre, Bordon (Pumpkin Pantos)
Snow White and the Seven Poofs: Easter Resurrection
- 30 March to 15 April: Karma Sanctum Hotel, London (Simon Gross Presents)
Sleeping Beauty
- 30 March to 8 April: Tuned In!, Redcar; The Forum, Northallerton; Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn (Tom Rolfe Productions)
The Wizard of Oz
- 4 to 14 April: Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford; Hazlitt Arts Centre, Maidstone; Camberley Theatre; Elgiva Theatre, Chesham; The Thameside, Grays; The Broadway, Peterborough; Bedford Corn Exchange; Harlequin Theatre, Redhill (KD Theatre)
- 9 to 13 April: Brindley Theatre, Runcorn; Albert Hall, Bolton (Trio Entertainment)
- 31 March to 22 April: Parkway Cinema, Beverley; North Notts Arena, Worksop; The Apex, Bury St Edmunds; Bishop Auckland Town Hall; The Freedom Centre, Hull; Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe; Parkway Cinemas, Cleethorpes; Majestic Theatre, Retford; The Beacon, Wantage; F.A.N, Neath; Cannon Hall Farm, Cawthorne (Talegate Theatre Productions)