A week ago DH
and I revisited our childhood when DS and his wife took the birthday boy and
both sets of grandparents to this winter’s pantomime at the Oxford Playhouse.
We had wonderful seats, right in the middle of the auditorium, and it didn't take long for us oldies to shed all inhibitions and join in with the
traditional responses. In fact I reckon we had at least as much fun as any
child there, if not more, and we were almost hoarse by the time the show
finished.
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| DH and I booed and hissed with the best of them! |
Instead of the customary Friar we had a wonderfully over-the-top Dame Teresa Tuck, superbly played by a Kentucky-born actor in his first pantomime. For us, he and the two baddies stole the show. Why are villains so often more interesting than the hero?
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| Song, dance, humour and excitement - what more could we ask? |
The pantomime was just one highlight in our very enjoyable stay in a very wet Oxford, so wet that we had to forego our usual family walk this time. Port Meadow was even more flooded than it was this time last year and the nearby canal was almost overflowing onto the towpath. Since we left on Tuesday, two of the main roads into the city centre have become impassable because of floodwater, a situation replicated all down the Thames Valley towards London and along much of the lower reaches of the River Severn.
Closer to home,
the seafront in Aberystwyth, the Welsh resort in whose hospital I had my
cataract surgery, was severely damaged by some of the worst storm surges on
record and it wasn’t the only town around Britain’s coast to suffer. After the
fun and feasting of Christmas, the New
Year has started badly for a lot of people and we can only hope the weather has
done its worst for a while. This was definitely no joke.....
Sunday postscript: It was heartening to read on the BBC website this morning that over 200 people turned out yesterday to help with the clean-up of the seafront at Aberystwyth. Community spirit is very far from dead.
Most images via Google
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| No strolling along this promenade for a while.... |
Sunday postscript: It was heartening to read on the BBC website this morning that over 200 people turned out yesterday to help with the clean-up of the seafront at Aberystwyth. Community spirit is very far from dead.
Most images via Google
I thinks only the British can understand a good pantomime. It defies categorisation. (oh no it doesn't!)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it does. ;-) I'm sure you're right, BtoB, but I see it as my duty to educate the world. :-)
DeleteThe bad guys always seem to have more depth and passion.
ReplyDeleteRubye, how lovely to see you back in blogland! You're certainly right about the bad guys in the pantomime - they really dominated the show and we loved them.
DeletePanto when it is done well, is a truly heart-warming and lifting thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it so much. It is good to drop all pretensions to adulthood and revert to uncritical childhood now and then.
As you say, the flooding is pretty dire and does not yet appear to have finished with us.
Stay safe and dry. X
Ray, i haven't seen a professional pantomime since I was a child, but you're spot-on. This was a super show - very well written and produced and I loved every minute of it. My inner child had a wonderful time. :-)
DeleteThe flooding is awful and a friend who lives just opposite Windsor Great Park says it's still getting worse there as the high water comes downstream. We're fine up on our Welsh hillside, thanks, but so much misery and damage elsewhere is very sad.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI am watching Pirates of the Caribbean even as I read this - it fits into that lovely escapist and 'good baddies' category. Suspension of belief in the make-believe brings mental respite. The laughter heals.
And it's just plain good fun! Unlike the weather doing the rounds to so many places. Be warm. Be dry. YAM xx
I really must watch Pirates of the Caribbean one day, Yam. It's one of Grandson#3's favourites and he assures me I'll love it. - all that swashbuckling. :-) The laughter was certainly therapeutic and my ribs were sore by the end.
DeleteI hope the weather hasn't affected you too badly. Here it's finally dry and going to be cold tonight, but there's more rain forecast for tomorrow. Sigh....
I just love a pantomime - not generally known in New Zealand. Our local high school put on Cinderella last year. At the start the producer had to explain how a panto works. Doug had never been to one before but soon got into the swing of things. It was very professional and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHave not heard much about U.K. weather down here - we mainly hear about the U.S. The photos you have posted are quite shocking. I hope things improve from now on.
I think we British all grew up with pantomime, Susan, but I'm guessing it's an acquired taste for others. I'm glad to hear that it's being attempted in New Zealand as it's such fun both to watch and to take part in.
DeleteYou're a very long way from the UK and its weather and of course the US polar vortex was very newsworthy. But the floods and damage here are well out of the ordinary and i hope it's a long time before we get a repetition.
The pantomime sounded a lot of fun - the weather has been something else. I think that all our thoughts and prayers go out to all those people devastated by the awful floods.
ReplyDeleteThe panto was brilliant, Molly - so very well done. As for the weather, on this still and frosty morning it's hard to take in just how vile it's been and just how much damage has been done. The floodwaters are still rising in some places!
DeleteWe've been treated to regular clips of the high tides, collapsing cliffs and crashing waves from the UK. Funny, but I had never heard of Aberystwyth until last year when I learned to say it (!!) because the son of a friend was at university there. The world gets smaller and smaller.
ReplyDeleteOur weather really has been newsworthy, Pondside, and keeps beating the kind of records one wishes wouldn't be broken. Aberystwyth is a nice little town and we lived just outside it for a year in the early 1970s, while I was at library school there. Many of the former boarding- houses on the seafront (which had to be evacuated during the storms) are student lodgings as the university is very popular.
DeleteI haven't been to a pantomime in decades Perpetua. They are a peculiar British institution. So glad you all enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI'd seen previous pictures on the BBC News website, of the damage to the sea front at Aberystwyth. Whilst living in Lampeter when I was an undergraduate, I did go shopping in Aberystwyth on numerous occasions, not least to try & find size 11 shoes. Clearly nobody in Lampeter had feet as big as mine :-) It is sad to see such a familiar sight, so badly damaged.
The last one I'd been to was in a Welsh village when I was vicar there - a very different kind of production, but still great fun. I can foresee us going to the Playhouse again some future Christmas. :-)
DeleteWhen I had to go for a check-up in Aber after my cataract op we drove along the seafront, where they were still clearing the shingle off the prom after the early November storm. That was a pale shadow of the ferocity of this last week and the damage that's been done. Many of the houses on the front are now student lodgings and the students had to be evacuated for the duration. It will cost millions to repair all the damage. :-(
The pictures of the storm surge and flooding are hard to look at when I think of property and homes and infrastructure that has taken such a blow. I too hope that nature has done its worse and that days will be better. I think the pantomime must have been great to see. The costumes, especially Tuck's were great.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been truly terrifying to be in one of those houses when the severe weather began, Bonnie, and they were evacuated when it became obvious things were getting worse. It's calm at the seaside now, but the flooding inland is still very bad in places - the worst for a good many years. Here's hoping the rest of January will be dryer.
DeleteThe pantomime was super, with great costumes and such energy in the mainly young cast.
What great fun, going to a panto with a grandchild - I'd love that! When I was a child I saw 3 or 4 of these put on in my country town, and still remember the fun very well. Panto seems to have gone out of vogue in Australia, and it has been years since I have been aware of a performance. That storm damage is quite shocking, Perpetua, and I hope all returns to normal very soon. We have had very little information on what is happening in the UK, and meanwhile we still have the abnormal heatwaves here! World gone mad!!
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely to be at the panto with our grandson, though he was noticeably more inhibited about joining in than his four grandparents were. :--) The term 'second childhood' springs to mind here. Panto is still going strong in the UK, with most cities having a professional show every year and there are still plenty of amateur community pantos, thank goodness.
DeleteI imagine the UK and its problems must seem very far away indeed, especially during your intensely hot summer weather. As I've said before it's a shame we can't swap some of our rain and coolness for some of your sunshine and heat. Take care in this very hot weather.
It has been forever-and-a day since I've seen a pantomime, Perpetua. How fun it must have been, especially seeing it with your grandson. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThose waves look fierce. It's been a rough winter all over the upper hemisphere, hasn't it? We've come out of the deep freeze and now have rain and flooding. Stay safe, my blogging friend, and dry.
I didn't realise that pantomime was even known in the US, Penny. I've always thought of it as so quintessentially British. I hope my account has brought back some happy memories. We had a wonderful time.
DeleteAt the same time as we were shocked by the TV coverage of our storms and floods we were trying to imagine coping with the vicious cold and snowstorms you've been enduring. So much bad weather already and there's still most of the winter to come. Sigh.... I hope your floods don't amount to much and that ours go down soon, though my heart aches for the people whose homes have been soaked and damaged.
We haven't been to a pantomime for years either - the last one was when one of our granddaughters stayed with us about 10 years ago. We made a treat of it by going to Cheltenham, upstairs, on a double decker bus - she had never done that, and we hadn't since school days.
ReplyDeleteI feel desperately sad for all the people who have water in their houses yet again - what can they do? Their properties are unsaleable, and no soon do they have them dried out and repainted and it happens again.
What fun to go to a panto on a double-decker bus. :-) Both experiences were an indelible part of my childhood and it was lovely to recapture at least one of them last Sunday afternoon. I hope panto continues to flourish for future generations of children.
DeleteYour comments about the flooding were echoed today by a friend who lives near Windsor. She knows of a family who've just been flooded again after refurbishing after last year's flood and this time they don't even have insurance, as they were refused cover after the previous floods. A real domestic and personal catastrophe. :-(
Oh dear, it's a thing my children will have only very vague and distant memories of - Pantomime - which is a great shame. As you say, it's peculiarly British and just the very best fun ever. In my younger days, I often joined a scratch 'orchestra' to provide the music for local productions and it was always the highlight of the season! I seem to remember we always got wet too...
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of wet, what a soggy mess it all is. My friend just posted a picture on Fb over looking a totally flooded field in Oxford. And despite the amazing and rather beautiful photos of those houses in Aberystwyth, I can only imagine how truly terrifying it would have been to be anywhere near when the sea is at full power - and, as you say, how suddenly undesirable such a house seems to everyone else...
Lovely, memory and thought - provoking post, Perpetua! Axxx
Funny you should mention getting wet, Annie. The people in the first few rows of the stalls were issued with rain-coats and umbrellas before the performance began and we soon saw why! The music this time was provided by a small group of musicians at the side of the stage, well out of harm's way. :-) It's a shame your children will miss out on the fun, but somehow I can't see panto taking off in rural Spain...
DeleteThe BBC photo albums of the flooding in Oxford and Berkshire have to be seen to be believed. One of the two major Oxford roads has just reopened after 5 days but the other is still shut and further downstream on the Thames things are still very bad. The floods reached a record height in places and levels are only just starting to drop. After that comes the clean-up and I really don't envy anyone that horrible experience. :-(
A super break a visit to the pantomime .. A break from that awful weather there Perpetua.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching it on sky and bbc news. I watched the waves coming over the walls. and the destruction. this morning people along the banks of the Thames, had helpers giving them sand bags to try stop the rivers surge into their homes.. its been awful.
I dont think i would like to have been there.
Best wishes .. valx
It was pouring with rain on the way to and from the theatre, Val, but for a couple of hours we were able to forget the weather and escape into the magic of the show.
DeleteThe news coverage of the weather has naturally been intense and even now the flood levels between Oxford and London are only just starting to drop slightly. it will take some time for the water to clear completely and then what a mess there will be to clear up. Sigh....
I love panto and had hoped to take my grandsons to a local one while I was in England, but unfortunately circumstances prevented it. Fortunately, the little part of Berkshire I visited has pretty much escaped the floods. It's dreadful and I feel so sorry for all those affected.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame you couldn't get to the panto with Billy and Jimi. They (and you) would have had a wonderful time. Perhaps next year? I'm glad you managed to escape the flooding. You don't manage to visit your family very often and it would have been such a pity iof your visit had been disrupted by the weather.
DeletePanto is such a peculiar British thing. Niall took me to see one when we lived in Suffolk as I'd never been and I found it quite fun, but think you have had to have grown up with it to fully enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWe've seen the footage of the flood and storm damage. So sad that so many places have been badly hit.
It is indeed Antoinette - both peculiar and peculiarly British. :-) I think the slapstick and irreverence appeal to something in the national psyche, particularly, in the past, as an escape from rather rigidly conformist social attitudes. Nowadays it's more an excuse to revert to childhood, which is why I'm sure you're right about the need to grow up with it to really appreciate it.
DeleteThe weather seems to have been appalling in many parts of Europe, but I think poor old Britain has been particularly badly hit this time.
The panto sounds brilliant. I'm very excited at the prospect of taking our growing hoards of grandchildren to see pantos in the next few years. I'm glad the floods didn't cause your Oxford trip too many problems, it is certainly terrifying when you see how much damage water can do. Hebden Bridge has somehow missed it all this time, but is still recovering from the last deluge. Let's hope the polar vortex experience that the US has had is not repeated here.
ReplyDeleteIt really was, Janice. You'll have such fun when you start to take your brood to the panto. They're such wonderful winter entertainment with all the humour and colour and energy. The worst of the Oxford floods came just after we left and this time the waters seem to be confined largely to the south and west, unlike summer 2013 when the north-east was so badly affected. From what the forecasters are saying, it sounds like the remains of the US snowstorms will reach us just as more rain, if that, though given how much snow we had last spring, I doubt winter's finished with us just yet.
DeleteThe pantomime sounds like it was great fun! I'm glad you had such a good visit with your family. Those waves are frightening. Hopefully the worst of the winter storms are over, and no more damage is done.
ReplyDeletePantomime can sound very childish when described, but it really is wonderful fun for all ages, being so interactive. Both our festive season visits were lovely. thanks, and DH and I are now recovering quietly. :-) We're all crossing our fingers here that we don't get any more really bad storms, but so early in the year we can't rule them out, unfortunately - one of the downsides of being a small island at the edge of a big ocean.
DeleteI've actually been to a pantomime! I don't think they are done in the US, but some communities in Canada do them around Christmas.
DeleteThat's great. I wasn't sure whether Canada had the pantomime tradition, so I'm glad to hear you have. :-)
DeleteThe flood photos are astonishing. I hope the cleanup has gone well and things get back to normal soon. I would enjoy pantomine shows, I have always enjoyed live theater and take my children to see shows as much as I can. My son would really enjoy this one because he recently watched the old Disney animated version of Robin Hood and is really into the story at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI've rarely seen photos like that either, Jennifer. Where the waters have gone down, the clean-up is getting underway, but it takes so long to dry out a flooded house and costs so much to repair or replace things. I'm sure you and the little Bears would really love pantomime. The cast work so hard to involve the audience which makes it very memorable. I think this is why pantomime still has so much appeal here.
DeleteOh what a fun time you all had at the Pantomime! It's a wonderful introduction to theatre for your grandson. There is nothing like a live show.
ReplyDeleteYou've had a dreadful few weeks with storms causing such havoc in the UK.
Our daughter lives in France, we spoke to her last night and she said they have had non stop rain for weeks - no snow.
Yes that's great to see the community spirit coming to the fore.
Sending best wishes from New Zealand where it is summer one day and cool and drizzly the next - weather patterns have gone crazy here too!
We had a super time, thanks, and our grandson was almost overwhelmed by it all. It was a very very full couple of hours.
DeleteIt seems to me that most of Europe has had such dreadfully wet weather recently. Bloggers who live in France have been bemoaning the amount of rain they've had and our friends in Normandy where our cottage is say the weather's been truly miserable there. At least at the coast here the clean-up is underway, but where the rivers are flooding the clean-up will have to wait until the waters go down.
Enjoy your summer and I hope you get more warm and dry than cool and wet. :-)
A visit to the pantomime, whether a professional or local amateur production at this time of the year has always been a tradition in our family (although it didn't happen this year) so I can imagine how much you enjoyed the Oxford Playhouse one with your grandson. I'm sure an amusing version of Robin Hood appealed to him.
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been devastating and so disheartening for those whose homes and businesses have been flooded out either by the sea surges or yet again by the swollen rivers.
How lovely to have such a strong family tradition of panto-going, Linda. It's a shame you didn't manage to see one this year. My panto experiences have been much less frequent, which may be why I enjoyed this one so very much. I'm sure we'll be going with him again in the future.
DeleteThe floods and storm damage have been dreadful and there's still a lot of flooding in the south. On the Welsh coast more high tides are being forecast for early February, so let's hope they don't have the wind behind them next time.
I wanted to take my boys to the panto for years but the prices of tickets was just shocking so we never made it. When I was young my parents took us to some fantastic pantos specially written by an author whose name escapes me but they were highly original whilst keeping all the traditional elements of a good panto.
ReplyDeleteThe weather was appalling wasn't it. I was near London during Christmas week and we had terrible weather on the Monday, the day we did a full circuit of the M25 visiting my brothers. I've rarely been so frightened driving on the road as that day what with the high winds and heavy rain.
I must admit I blenched when I saw the price of the tickets we had, though thankfully all four grandparents got the same discount as our grandson. A professional panto is an expensive treat fort a whole family, though of course the amateur versions are usually pretty affordable and can be very good.
DeleteThe weather that Monday was truly dreadful. Thankfully we'd driven across to our daughter in Yorkshire the day before, so we were spared having to drive in it. The thought of tackling the M25 that day is nightmarish. Poor you.
I don’t think I have ever seen a pantomime – it certainly sounds like fun. I think the closest maybe the wayang theatre in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is classical Javanese puppet drama using beautiful puppets, but it is in Indonesian and when I went to such a theatre in Jakarta it was hard for me not to fall asleep I am sorry to say.
ReplyDeleteYour photos show what a disaster the weather has been in your area. I hope it is back to normal now. Last Monday at this time we were below freezing and in the coldest days since 1970, but today we are back to being in the 55 F range (13 C.)
I don't think pantomime is an American tradition, but there would certainly have been good professional pantomime being performed in London when you spent those teenage Christmases with your friends there. It's a shame you never had the chance to attend one as I'm sure you would have enjoyed it and would certainly not have fallen asleep. :-)
DeleteI heard how cold it became even in the southern states during the polar vortex. You must be glad it's over. We haven't had much cold weather so far this winter, just what feels like almost endless rain.
You brought the fun of the pantomime alive for me.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's mother would take the various grandchildren every year and I used to look forward to it very much indeed.....but never went again after she became too ill to carry on.
I should have enjoyed a good old hiss and boo!
I bet you would, Helen. I think we all surprised ourselves by how carried away we became by the fun of it and the wonderful invitation to get involved, not only in hissing and booing and calling out the traditional phrases, but even in the singing. It was so well done. :-) Those childhood experiences of the special nature of pantomime are just waiting to be revived.....
DeleteAww those were the days Perpetua, the pantomime sounded fun. Hopefully all will be calmer now on the weather front. What havoc it wreaked though and it's lovely when a community comes together to help clean up.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
They were indeed, Patricia, and what surprised me is that they still are. :-) Thankfully the weather has been much dryer, though the forecast is for heavy rain overnight and there will be more very high tides in early February, so fingers crossed there's no more damage for the community to cope with.
DeleteWhat fun the trip to the pantomime in Oxford must have been.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked when I saw the photos of Aberystwyth. I had no idea they had been hit by these storms so badly. The photos stirred up sadness for the damage and a sense of homesickness for this beautiful place. I stayed in Aberystwyth for about four days back in 1994. (Goodness, that has been 20 years ago now.) I had a dear friend living there. I walked along that beach front. I have a rock I picked up from the shore that sits on the table next to my reading table. I love that place. I am not surprised to read of the community spirit. Thanks for sharing these photos.
It was great, Sally.
DeleteI thought of you when i wrote the post as I know how much you loved your visit to Wales. Aberystwyth is an appealing small town in a wonderful position in the centre of the Cardigan Bay coastline, but that position of course makes it very vulnerable to such very high tides, made worse by westerly gales. It was so good to read how the townspeople rallied round to help with the clear-up.
Dear Perpetua, I, too, was taken aback by the photos you shared of Aberystwyth. I hadn't seen anything on the news about what was happening weather-wise in England. Those waves look to be fifty-feet high. You know just reading about your and your extended family at the pantomine made me smile. Laughter--deep belly laughter and high-cackled chucking--are so good for the soul.
ReplyDeleteI've been away for many weeks from blogging and so I've missed many of your postings. If you have some you'd like me to read, please let me know. Peace.
Welcome back, Dee.It's lovely to see your name appearing again. Yes, I can imagine that American media attention was naturally all on the effects of that vicious polar vortex you were enduring when these storms hit the UK. Yes, I too reckon the waves in that first photo were 50 feet high as that's a five-storey building they are almost breaking over.
DeleteYou're so right about the wonderfully therapeutic effect of ral laughter. We all felt marvellous when we left the theatre. :-)
It must have been very scary for anyone in those seafront properties watching the waves batter Aberystwyth. Western England and Wales have taken such a pasting, haven't they? We in this part of Scotland feel very lucky to have escaped the worst of the awful winter weather, which has given us nothing more than a few more gales than usual. I've never seen Port Meadow under quite so much water, either: hope the ponies are all safe!
ReplyDeleteNot an experience i would have enjoyed, DB. A lot of the people living along the seafront now are students and they and the other residents were evacuated after the first very high tide. Hopefully the worst is over, though high spring tides are also expected in early February, but with luck they won't have severe gales behind them. The flooding in Port Meadow spilled out into Binsey Lane and Botley Road which was closed for days, as was Abingdon Road. I couldn't see a single pony from my vantage point. Probably they were up at the Godstow end, which I don't think floods quite so severely.
DeleteThank Heavens it has all calmed down a bit. At least we get an almost dry day in between the wet ones now. The Clun is back in its bed, although the meadows are pretty soggy.
ReplyDeleteOne of these years I will try to get to a pantomime. I need to borrow some children.
It was wet here again yesterday, and the forecast for today is pretty miserable. The Severn has dropped, so hopefully there won't be more flooding. I really wish we saw the sun a bit more. I'd much rather have a cold, clear winter than this relatively mild, grey dampness. Sigh....
DeleteOh, do go to a pantomime once, for the experience. If you can't borrow any children, just attach yourself to a likely-looking family on the way in. :-)