Pantomime

I am a volunteer usher in a theatre. This is the Panto season. By the time the season ends I will know the production extremely well. In fact there is a song that seems to be embedded in my brain already. (Rather perverse considering that I can't remember what I did yesterday!)

Normally I would only see a production once, so it's a completely different experience. I am simply amazed at the cast. How do they go out on stage day after day & do a couple of performances for weeks on end? How do they bring the same energy & joy to the performance over and over again? They must surely get physically tired - it's an all singing all dancing production. The sheer professionalism & talent is impressive. So far it has never become mechanical. It seems fresh and new every time.

A panto audience is very different to any other. There are obvious differences because it is mainly children & there are Panto traditions of audience participation. The audience involvement in the characters is central to the whole thing. Achieveing that involvement is a real skill. Bringing that much joy to a theatre full of people must be really rewarding.

Audience behaviour did come as a bit of a shock as this is my first Christmas season. A lot of people seem to arrive late, often even after the performance has started. They are allowed in. Given I am routinely on time for anything I personally find it hard to understand. Quite a lot of people go in & out during the performance - Understandable if children need the loo or are frightened of the "baddie". Surprising to me if it's adults. Especially if they are seated in the middle of a row & have to disrupt everyone else. If I were an actor giving my all I would be put off by people walking out. If I were in the audience around the people going in & out I would be irritated. It just seems rude and unnecessary to me. Surely adults can wait for the interval?

There are far more consumables eaten & drunk in a Panto. That's fine by me, but the ushers have to pick up all the litter after the performance. I have always been truly surprised that adults just leave their litter on the floor, but it's a whole new "ball game" after a Panto. We need quite a few plastic sacks for everything. It would be so nice if people took their litter out with them & deposited it in the bins. Why is it acceptable to drop your litter on the floor in a theatre when it's illegal in the street?

Any performance is such a team effort. There are huge numbers of people involved in every theatre production. Ushers are probably the lowliest in the hierarchy, the actors are the stars. In between there are a myriad of people doing very diverse tasks, but everyone is necessary to put a show on in front of an audience.

I'm just surprised when some members of the audience don't seem to appreciate that. The worst crime to my mind is those who dash for the exits at the end whilst the audience are clapping. Are they really in so much of a rush that they can't show appreciation for all the effort to entertain them?