Lighthouse Festival is creating a new Christmas tradition by introducing a panto production.
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If you think pantomime is the style of the famous French mime artist and actor Marcel Marceau, you’re about to learn something new.
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“Pantomime is filled with talking, music, jokes, and engaging the audience,” said Jonathan Ellul, director of Lighthouse Festival’s presentation of Jack and the Beanstalk. “I believe that pantomime was a precursor to cartoons.
“The humor is really broad, slapstick, and topical puns. There are jokes about what’s happening in the community, and the world at large in current times.”
Ellul said the production is accessible to people of all ages in the same way that Bugs Bunny was intended for kids, but the jokes were enjoyed by the adults.
“They are very improvisational based,” he explained. “A lot of what happens on the stage depends on the level of interaction the actors are getting from the audience.”
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The director said he’s brought in seven of the funniest, smartest comedic actors he knows, and predicts people will still be laughing when the next joke comes out.
“The fairy tale is the vehicle for the comedians to come and turn the play on its ear, so that everyone can have a big, giant laugh,” said Lighthouse Festival artistic director Derek Ritschel. “(Panto) is extremely popular in the United Kingdom, a tradition actually.”
Ritschel would like panto to become a holiday season tradition at Lighthouse Festival but acknowledged it will be a new thing for people to wrap their heads around.
“I went out and got Jonathan who’s done a ton of pantos and is a great comedian himself. I knew he’d be the one to lead the very first one,” he noted. “We knew this show had to have impact right away to teach people what a panto is so it can start growing year after year.”
Ellul said his greatest hope would be that, after seeing Jack and the Beanstalk, it lodges in people’s minds as a family night out and becomes a family tradition.
“The team at Lighthouse really knows the audience and I think most people understand if Lighthouse is producing something, it’s within our values and likes, and it’s going to be amazing,” observed the director. “I’m certain that we’re going to deliver on that.”
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