2017 was a tumultuous year for the entertainment industry and indeed Pantoland received its fair share of media outcry.
When John Barrowman groped Jeanette Krankie's breast in Manchester's Dick Whittington, the papers shone a spotlight on an act which had appeared in panto seasons past and one in which both parties were complicit. Many audience members were interviewed, stating they were disgusted and did not expect to see this type of activity on stage in a show suitable for children. The panto, of course, went on to win Best Family Entertainment at the Manchester Theatre Awards.
Often a child's first experience of theatre, pantomime has gone through a period of rapid evolution over the past decade as practitioners seek to address centuries of inequality, objectification, sexism, racism and homophobia.
Knowing that younger audiences will replicate behaviour rewarded on stage with laughter, Qdos's Michael Harrison even chose to remove the comic wall scene from the London Palladium, where Principal Boy and Comic would look up the skirt of Principal Girl as they fight for her attention.
That's not to say that the set-piece has disappeared from Pantoland completely, it could still be seen in other productions around the country, but the Palladium stage, with all eyes on the biggest pantomime in the country, would not be condoning such acts.
Pantomime has always had a responsibility to teach morals and it seems the tide is slowly turning on those Victorian values instilled in the genre during its modern inception. Should dick jokes abound in contemporary productions of Whittington and his Cat? Is it acceptable to do gags about bums, farts and boobs, or use a finger poking through a fly to simulate a penis? As well as Jeanette Krankie, Brian Conley has done this act for many years, using it to hold his bow as he rests from playing the violin.
The 1980s are often referred to as the genre's blue period, with Comics such as Jim Davidson bringing new matter to the form. This material has long since disappeared, but, with its roots in the bawdy music hall, pantomime has retained some arguably unhealthy conventions.
Innuendo is a sticky subject, with audiences generally agreeing that pantomime should provide something for young and old alike. This form of verbal dexterity is often cited as a staple of the genre going over the heads of the young, and appreciated by adults. But as many writers and directors remind us, adults should never be put in the awkward situation of having to explain why they are laughing, but the children are not.
So where do jokes sit on a scale of taste and acceptability? Is a titter at "it's nearly morning, and still no sign of Dick" acceptable? And what about the respected pantomime practitioner Roy Hudd's decision to get the audience to shout "Viagra" to raise a drawbridge? The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks' 2017 gags about Harvey Weinstein certainly had no place in family entertainment, but what about shouting "knickers" at the Nottingham Playhouse when Buttons's apple was about to be pinched? Or screaming to alert Biggins's Twankey that someone almost had their hands on the Widow's prawn balls?
Should the Busy Bee routine, with people spitting in one another's face, be permitted? And how about the Apple Gag, where fruit gets spewed over the Principal Girl's face as a story is recounted. Whilst almost extinct, is the Dame's striptease appropriate for a family audience? Does it celebrate the character, deride elderly women or sexualize and criticize them for such a grotesque act? Or... is it simply just funny?
Seeing the middle-aged Grumbleweeds rollerskate naked across the stage with only a balloon to hide their modesty isn't something high on the list of must-sees, but juxtapose this with scantily clad female Genies, or torso-exposed costumes for male Genii. Sex sells, and is this just a 21st century rendering of the thigh-slapping Principal Boys of yore?
There are no complete answers to any of the above, just further questions, posed to stimulate debate. And of course, different theatre audiences have different tastes, which breeds diversity of form from Guildford to Glasgow. However, 2018 looks very different to 1880 and it's only now that the pantomime industry is widely debating these issues. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with a string of anniversaries.
2018 celebrates the centenary of women's suffrage, as well as the 250th anniversary of circus. The first highlights the inequality still in play today, whilst the latter reminds us of the celebrated physicality and violence of slapstick clowning. But let us also not forget that 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Theatres Act (1968) and the abolition of stage censorship. Audiences may vote with their feet, but it's up to the producers, writers and directors to determine what can be presented onstage.
That said, if the critics are now watching pantomime a little closer than before in terms of representation, the 2017 season saw a number of other headlines hit the press on account of performers and pay.
There isn't a season that goes by without the collapse of a company, and indeed Newcastle's Pantodrome, which saw the departure of Denise Welch at the beginning of its run, is still in the press on account of fees remaining unpaid and company NS Pantomimes going bust.
Sacking celebrities has also become somewhat a tradition, with Googlebox's Sandra Martin leaving Maidenhead's Aladdin, Al Porter being replaced in Dublin and Tina Malone exiting her contract early in Barrow-in-Furness adding to the industry's struggles of celebrating its successes and being seen as wholesome family fun.
But in light of all the furore, 2017 was an important season in many ways. Rarely seen and recently invented traditions are becoming ever more embraced by practitioners, providing them with greater prominence and leading to their acceptance.
The first of these is the Drag Villain as exemplified by Grant Stott (Baroness Hibernia Hardup) in Edinburgh, Johnathan Tweedie (Maleficent) in Buxton and Amrou Al-Kadhi (Dame Judi Hench) in Oxford, thus avoiding the need for resident Villains to become secondary Villains such as Henchmen. It also gives the country's talented Drag Artistes an opportunity to partake in the pantomime fun without encroaching on the Dame role, offering two different cross-dressed interpretations of women. A knock on effect of such casting practices has been a rise in female Ugly Sisters to address the cross-dressed balance and indeed other variations such as Greenwich's one male, one female Ugly pairing.
In a genre that embraces cross-dressing and gender fluidity, it is somewhat odd that it's taken until now for the industry to re-assess such casting practices. Some of the most refreshing roles of the season were Vikki Stone's Fleshcreep at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and Sophie Ladds's Aunty Banazar in Basildon, with Oxford's Smart Simone championing strong female role models.
And it's not only gender on many a writer's agenda. To avoid Orientalism, Andrew Pollard transformed Watford Palace's Abanazar into Sven Gali, a European pop mogul. Playfulness should be at the heart of any panto, and indeed Watford is well known for its creative interpretation of titles. The last time they presented Aladdin, Abanazar was the worst of all Villains—a bank manager!
But let's return to those cross-dressed damsels in a dress. Whilst May McFettridge has been the mainstay of Belfast's pantomime for over 25 years, 2017 saw a number of prominent Drag Artistes take on the role. Myra Dubois (Leeds), La Voix (Aylesbury) and Ruby Murry (Liverpool) were advertised just as Lily Savage would be, with no mention of Paul O'Grady, and renowned drag acts such as Mary Mac (J P McCue) are now integral to Leamington Spa's seasonal offering. With music hall and variety no longer ways to make a living, and drag more popular and accessible than ever thanks to the likes of RuPaul's Drag Race, Conchita Wurst and the most recent Kellogg's Cornflakes advert, this form of cross dressing is becoming ever more accepted as an alternative to the 'traditional' comic in skirts.
As a living newspaper of the year, each season has its very own soundtrack with 2017's songs of choice being "Despacito" and "Symphony". In terms of cultural referencing, Trump and Brexit were firm hot topics, but with 2017 very much behind us, what do we have to look forward to in 2018?
A number of panto anniversaries will be celebrated in 2018 and I very much look forward to marking my own as I celebrate my tenth season reviewing for the British Theatre Guide.
For Billy Pearce, it's 20 years of tomfoolery at the Bradford Alhambra as their Comic. Pearce will take on the role of Wishee Washee, whilst the Hackney Empire also celebrates two decades of pantomime with Aladdin.
The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks marks ten years of pantomimes produced by Magic Beans with an anniversary production of Dick Whittington, as does the Lyric Hammersmith who re-launched pantomime at the London venue in 2009.
2018 also sees the New Wolsey mark a decade of rock 'n' roll pantos at the Ipswich theatre with Cinderella. Now an institution in their own right, Peter Rowe's legendary actor-musician productions are also produced in Mold and Stafford.
And whilst we know there'll be more than the usual allocation of Beauty and the Beasts thanks to Disney's live-action remake, it'll be the first time that UK Productions has produced the title, premièring at the Blackpool Opera House starring regular Comic Steve Royle.
With almost a quarter of the year behind us, lots of casting has already been announced, but perhaps most exciting is Elaine C Smith's return to Dame as Twankey in Glasgow, Paul Merton's panto season D(am)ebut as the Merry Widow in Wimbledon, Craig Revel Horwood continuing the Drag Villain tradition as Baroness in Woking's Cinderella and Danny Beard's drag Immortal in Dick Whittington, Sevenoaks.
Stoke's Regent Theatre welcomes its first ever Robin Hood with Shrewsbury's resident Dame Brad Fitt taking on the Hamlet of Dames role at the Theatre Severn in Mother Goose. The only pantomime in which the Dame leads the narrative is also the title of choice for Above The Stag's 2018 adult panto Mother Goose Cracks One Out!.
Another title rarely seen these days is Goldilocks and the Three Bears, one ripe for the Above the Stag treatment. Last given prominence under Frank Bruno's Ringmastership, 2018 will see Clive Webb, Danny Adams and Chris Hayward reunited at the Theatre Royal Newcastle in their first rendering of the tale.
New titles are rare, but they do come, and often go, whilst others such as Humpty Dumpty, fall out of favour. Ever inventive, York Theatre Royal has played host to Dick Turpin, Dick Whittington and his Meerkat and Robin Hood and his Merry Mam, but 2018 will see Berwick Kaler write, co-direct and star in The Grand Old Dame of York. Over the past few years, rumours about Kaler's retirement have abound, with Kaler himself saying he doesn't want to go on forever. What with 2017 seeing him undergo a double heart bypass, might this just be the Grand Old Dame's final outing?
And so from the Grand Old Dame of Pantoland to the Master of Merriment and King of Comedy Ken Dodd, who sadly passed away this month aged 90. Dodd appeared in numerous pantomimes throughout his career, bringing his unique style of comedy to the stage and enthralling audiences of all ages. I was lucky enough to interview him in November 2016 and so in honour of such an inspirational man, I would like to conclude this column by sharing his insightful words of pantomime wisdom:
"Pantomime is wonderful. Pantomime for a Comic, for a comedian, is a lovely yuletide experience. There is a script and the other actors have to stick to it because that’s the story the children and adults want to hear: Prince Charming and Cinderella and all the rest of it.
"The comedian doesn’t have to stick to the script. His job is to get laughs, so you can really have a ball, you can ad-lib as much as you like. If your name's up on the title you can do what you like. As long as you get laughs. That is the rule. That is the thing you’ve got to remember. You mustn’t interfere with anybody’s lines and if your line is important to them, then you must say it.
"There’s lots of business that has been handed down, that has been told to you, and there’s a lot you work out yourself as you go along. You know which scenes you can really have a go at—that’s the kitchen scene. But the others where you have to be part of the story, no, you mustn’t interfere. The ghost scene and the kitchen scene, you can really have a ball.
"The other thing you have to remember about pantomime—it’s very, very hard work and when you’re doing two a day, by the time you’re finished you only want one thing—you want to go to bed and go to sleep!"