THERE’S a magic to live performance that captivates all ages, and the enduring love of pantomime over the festive season is testament to that.
Skibbereen used to play host to annual pantos, with Robinson Crusoe held in the Town Hall back in 1963. The show was organised by the De La Salle Past Pupils’ Union became a tradition for decades.
These days, the tradition for many families is to make a trip to Cork city, to see the large-scale productions put on at the Cork Opera House and the Everyman Theatre.
Over at the Cork Opera House, this year’s show is Cinderella, co-written by Trevor Ryan and Frank Mackey.
The show is a riot of colour, craic, and music, with audience interaction a key part.
Megan Pottinger plays Cinderella while Buttons is played by Blarney’s Brian Ó Muirí, fresh from a run in the West End production of The Book of Mormon, and he even gets to teach the audience some dance moves.
The show features more talent from the West End. Prince Charming in the Opera House production is played by Paul Wilkins.
Paul previously played the lead of Marius in Les Misérables in London before moving to Cork in last year.
‘My partner Thérèse (O’Sullivan) is from Co Cork so I moved over in September 2023. She’s also in the panto,’ said Paul, who combines acting with studying for a masters in music performance at the Cork School of Music.
‘Cinderella is a classic panto isn’t it? I think panto is all about getting people involved, and there’s a real local feel, from the off, to the show in the Opera House. The script is fantastic – the writing of this show is fantastic and jaunty.’
The show does indeed try to capture a local flavour, with shoutouts and gags featuring local references.
Indeed it quickly features a stage entrance by two characters playing Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, who get a huge reception from the audience, as the song Gold rings out around the Opera House.
For his part, Paul Wilkins has been enjoying some of the best of West Cork in his downtime since making the move from the UK.
‘It’s so beautiful. We’ve done a lot of travel around places like Kinsale, and Gougane Barra was one of the first places we travelled to when I moved over – so the bar was set!’
Indeed Paul is hoping to travel to West Cork in a professional capacity next year.
‘I’m putting together a show called Friends from the West End with songs from the golden age and modernising it for 2025. I’m putting it on tour in Ireland in 2025, and I’ll be bringing over some of the amazing performers that I’ve worked with there, so it would be great if we can do shows in West Cork.’
Across the Lee, the curtain is up on the fantastic production of Little Red Riding Hood at the Everyman Palace.
Director Catherine Mahon-Buckley has been involved with the Everyman’s panto for the past 30 years.
‘I was always involved in theatre, with the Kavanaghs, the Montforts, before I opened my own theatre academy Cada Performing Arts. It’s my 29th panto because we lost one year to Covid, but I’ve been doing it for the past 30,’ she told The Southern Star.
‘When we first started 30 years ago, the Everyman was in financial difficulties. My husband Ted was on the board and they couldn’t put on a show and he asked me if I would do it. At that stage I had about €150 in my bank account. But I’m one of these people that if I jump in the Atlantic, I have to swim – and that’s what I did, I decided to take it on.
‘The first show was Cinderella and we had about 150 people in the cast! It was nerve-wracking. I was afraid to buy a pair of tights because I didn’t know if I’d be able to afford them.’
Despite all the worries, the show broke even that year and has gone from strength to strength since.
‘It graduated. I’m not afraid to evaluate and assess where the strengths and weaknesses are. You’d be foolish to think panto wouldn’t change, but the basic storylines must be the same. You must always remember there’s a new generation every five years. In Cada, my academy, I sometimes workshop with younger people and they can come up with suggestions and ideas. As an adult, we can be loaded down with everyday problems but kids are buzzing with creativity.’
The panto storyline stays the same, but as Catherine says, there are changes, and the violence of the fairytales is no more.
This year Granny in Little Riding Hood falls foul of the wolf, who has come down from Dublin – but there’s no eating or woodchopping involved.
‘I have a major problem with frightening kids. It’s probably the first thing you are going to see in the theatre, and it will instill a love or fear for the theatre.’
All pantos must be topical, with catchy numbers from the charts, and it’s all about being a great escape. ‘Children just eat the whole thing up. They love being part of it.
‘We do live in a very, very politically correct world, and there are jokes I could do 10 years ago that I couldn’t do now. But I would be a little worried that we don’t let panto die. It’s about slapstick comedy, laughing at ourselves, booing.
‘You come as an adult and you allow the child within you to come out.’
But it’s not just in the city that fantastic pantomime productions are taking place this year.
The Lee Valley Entertainers have been busy in preparations in Macroom, as Kelly Ann Healy plays the lead in Cinderella, which is running at the Briery Gap from Friday December 13th to December 22nd.
Written and produced by Ann Dunne, it features Peter O’Riordan as Prince Charming and Irene Kavanagh plays the Dame.
The show also features performers from the Aideen Johnson School of Dance, which provides dance classes in Macroom and Dunmanway.
Tickets for the panto in Macroom are priced from €15 with family tickets for €60, with shows at 7.30pm from Friday December 13th and matinee shows on Sunday December 15th and December 22nd.
At the very tip of the Beara peninsula, Lehanamore Community Centre is home to Snow White and the Four Contractors this year.
The panto has become a huge hit in Garnish and two performances of the sell-out show have already taken place with shows also on Friday December 13th and Saturday December 14th.
Glengarriff Theatre Group’s panto The Little Mermaid, a real community affair, took place at the Eccles Hotel from November 29th to December 1st, featuring many local schoolchildren and again proving a smash hit.
The Cork Opera House has two pantos running simultaneously, with the Improv Panto, with a cast that features Dominic McHale from The Young Offenders, and Laura O’Mahony, taking place nightly from 10.30pm. It’s unscripted so promises a different show every night.
Meanwhile, the Spailpín Fánach bar on Cork’s South Main Street hosts the adult panto by Chattyboo Productions.
Both these shows are later as the gags are aimed only at the grown-ups!
