Christmas panto stars in the making
THE festive season is once more upon us, and theatres are happy in the anticipation of packed houses throughout the traditional annual pantomime. Part of that tradition has always been the inclusion of youngsters taking their first stage steps. All over Ireland, thousands can look back with happy memories to their days as tiny tots or fairies. Many have gone on to make their careers in theatre, thanks to that first festive introduction.
“It’s where I started myself,” says Trevor Ryan, who is directing Cinderella at Cork Opera House this year. Catherine Mahon-Buckley, directing Little Red Riding Hood at Cork’s Everyman Palace, can point to several of her own who have gone on to success — among them Sarah Greene, who starred in Penny Dreadful among other TV shows.
There are strict regulations governing the time children can spend onstage, which means that pantomimes usually have three or four teams who between them share the performances.
It doesn’t just involve the children, though. For parents, having a child in a show that will, including rehearsals, run for near enough three months means coping with endless dropping off, picking up, planning ahead, coping with emergencies, keeping the normal, everyday work going — and somehow fitting in Christmas too! What’s it like for them?
Mia Jones, one of the young performers in Cinderella, is already a seasoned actress at the grand old age of 11. (She made an enchanting Gretl in The Sound of Music six years back.) Mia’s mum, Suzanne, has an advantage in that she is herself a drama teacher and so is familiar with the demands of theatre, but, with two other children, it still means a fair bit of juggling.
“You organise your life around it, plan ahead, make sure that other important events — a first confession, a school concert — are fitted in as well.”
During the run of Cinderella, Mia has to be at the theatre by 5.30pm. Suzanne makes sure that her daughter takes extra vitamins during the run. She pauses and laughs. “Maybe it’s me that should be taking them!” The whole family will be going to see Mia onstage, of course. “My mother buys all the tickets every year. It’s a tradition. There will be 22 of us this year — 21 in the audience, one onstage!”
Once youngsters are dropped off at the Opera House stage door, the chaperoning team, led by Marian O’Brien, takes over. From then until they are collected after their performance, the children are never left unattended. “We keep an eye on them in the dressing rooms, we check their costumes, bring them down to the wings, check their cues, take them back up. It’s full-time work, but it’s great fun.”
The use of mobile phones is forbidden for the children. The show takes over from Facebook and Twitter, and that’s no bad thing, says Marian. “Instead of staring into these tiny screens, they’re talking to each other, making friends.”
Looking outward rather than inward is an important aspect of theatre in today’s world where many feel there is far too much dependence on technology-based social media.
“They learn to socialise quite naturally, and in that way they gain so much confidence that will stand them in good stead in later years.”
There is discipline too, and that’s of huge value in developing character. Children who perform in panto know that they need to be there on time, pay close attention, do what is expected of them, and work as part of a team. And they take it seriously.
Spend a few minutes with Charlotte O’Halloran and Nessa O’Callaghan, who are sharing the role of Red Riding Hood at the Everyman Theatre and you’ll be left in no doubt of that. Friendly, talkative, they show no worries at all about chatting to a reporter, but give detailed and thoughtful answers.
Only the occasional giggle reminds you that these are children, not seasoned players of many decades. “We’re always thinking about how to do things better, take a different approach,” they confide. “We text each other all the time after rehearsals, and then when we next come in, we go through our ideas before bringing them to the director.”
So it’s OK for juniors to contribute to overall direction, is it? “Oh yes, it’s very important that they have some ownership,” says Mahon-Buckley. “All the cast have. If you just tell them what to do, what you have in your head might not be quite right for that particular individual. So if they can work out a way in which it can feel right for them, it’s often even better than you had thought in the first place.”
Well then, the kids have it all sorted. But think of their parents again. Those hard-working folk who, notwithstanding the onset of Christmas, have to fit in schedules, rehearsals, costume fittings, drop-offs and pick-ups, while still managing to run a home and, often, a job too?
Rose O’Halloran and Orla O’Callaghan laugh. They have three daughters each, and all six are in drama school, so they’re well used to the juggling act. Living near each other, they do what they can to share the burden while the Everyman panto is in rehearsal. “Of course once the show starts, though, Charlotte and Nessa are in different performances, so we tend not to see each other again until the end of January.”
Neither Little Red Riding Hood is pushy, overconfident. Their manners are perfect. And this is something you see wherever children are performing in panto. They are totally focused, energetic, but holding back for when it’s needed. They obey instructions, jump to it when told, never ever show a sign of boredom or sulkiness. They love what they’re doing.
“You can’t make children do something they don’t want to,” says Mahon-Buckley, who is fielding no fewer than 145 youngsters in Little Red Riding Hood, spread across four teams. “They’re here because they want to be.”
Suzanne Jones agrees. “Mia had to give up a lot of things to be in this year’s panto. She’s very good at gymnastics and she was due to go up to the finals in Limerick but she realised that she couldn’t do both.”
And it’s the same story from all the parents. There are parties missed, outings to the cinema or a special occasion which have to be bypassed because of the demands of that stage door. But it’s something they decide for themselves.
“I kind of wanted to go to the gymnastics final,” confesses Mia, “but then I had committed to the pantomime and that came first.”
So the children are having a wonderful time while simultaneously developing strong character traits for the future. But are the parents really happy with the extra workload it involves? One dad’s comment speaks for all: “I know they’re happy and fully occupied, I know they’ll come home exhausted, and, best of all, I know exactly where they are. Why would I crib?”
