Pantomime
Pantomime is, for many non-commercial UK theatres, the one show of the season that is guaranteed to get bums on seats, and, more importantly, make a profit!
Many theatres use the profit margins to plough back into the rest of the season - especially for those shows which didn’t make the books black.
Theatrical Excess
Pantomime for the designer is a riot of eccentricity, childishness and theatrical excess, and because of that it’s also the perfect training ground for students and graduates alike. Often one production design can involve a seasons worth of staging tricks, effects and wizardry. It’s not often in regional theatre that you might find a leaf drop, a genie trap, and wire flying in one show!
Furthermore employment in the production stage of a pantomime can lead to employment in the run of the show and into the rest of the season. A number of designers we spoke to told us that employment in the wardrobe, constructing pantomime costumes, had led to jobs as “Dresser†(Dressing actors in quick-changes) on the show and daytime roles such as wardrobe maintenance. Similar stories are to be heard from scenic artists and carpenters who are kept on to work backstage in a variety of roles from casual technicians, follow-spot operators and stage-management.
Often in theatre it’s not “What you do†but “How well†you do it. Starting out as a casual stage technician humping around generic lumps of theatrical machinery may not seem like the best job in the world but after a while you do begin to pick up a few tricks!
