Where has the year gone? It seems unbelievable that Christmas is less than a fortnight away and the nights are well and truly drawing in.
Schools will soon be breaking up for the Yuletide holidays, and theatres up and down the country have transformed themselves into welcoming venues offering what are often euphemistically referred to as “family shows”, though many will only be endured by adults on sufferance.
However, having quickly reached the point where they just wish that the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or The Pied Piper of Hamlin were not fictional characters, parents will happily suffer for a chance to occupy the kids for most of the day. In addition, grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends are often happy to have an opportunity to bond more closely with young folk whom they might see only rarely.
A visit to the local theatre or a trip to the spectacular offerings of the nearest city may be a perfect solution, since it will keep the kids occupied and might even entertain the grown-ups. The choice can be almost overwhelming. Being Brits, we are happy to offer wall-to-wall pantos, a genre that has proved less transferable even then cricket and is literally unknown in almost any other part of the world.
The pantomime is something of an acquired taste, always popular with children who love the participatory elements but also appreciated by some from older generations who might be seduced by the opportunity of seeing a favourite TV or sports star making a fool of him or herself and could be tickled by the risqué humour, which they hope passes over the heads of their young companions.
If you go to New York at this time of year, pantos will not be on the menu, but the British influence is strong, primarily because viewers can always choose between a dozen or more different stage adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens’s classic is also perennially popular on this side of the Atlantic, with everything from a classy version at the Old Vic to local productions that should still be enjoyable and much less demanding on the pocket. Other classics are also favourites, with J M Barrie’s Peter Pan probably next in line.
It isn’t just latter-day works that are translated from the page to the stage. Many might argue that the best shows to entertain children today are far more modern. Roald Dahl’s Matilda and The Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked both have the great merit of providing high quality entertainment for viewers of all ages.
For the really upmarket, there is bound to be a bouncy balletic version of The Nutcracker appearing in a major opera house, possibly alternating with Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck’s opera designed to delight children but pleasing to adults as well.
However, seasonal entertainment literally comes at a high price since; if you want to see either of those shows at this time of year, premium prices will apply and you can forget about meaningful discounts for children or pensioners. Instead, you will get something that might be worth the money, an unforgettable experience that the children will treasure for years, potentially demanding repeats every time you meet them.
Why take children to a theatre? The answer to that one is easy. You have a chance of persuading them that this is a far better form of entertainment than playing video games or secretly watching Internet porn. Most of us were probably first attracted to the art form that we love by visits to shows at this time of year, whether it was pantomime or, perhaps, like this writer, Treasure Island at Bernard Miles’s Mermaid.
There could, of course, be a downside. Theatregoing can be as addictive and almost as expensive as a drug habit, although it is far healthier.
There is one other potential consequence of inviting a six-year-old with a chance of getting them hooked by an afternoon out at a stage production. An innocent afternoon out could ultimately lead to a career waiting tables and serving in bars, convinced, whether male or female, that casting in the next Mad Max or Harry Potter movie or RSC Hamlet is just around the corner.
Even so, I can’t believe that anybody reading this column would not think that it is worth taking the risk.