Now listen up! There’ s a never-before phenomenon taking place in Hamburg, guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. An honest-to-goodness Christmas fairy tale panto! Say what? Pantos, short for pantomime, are unique to the genre( and very British theatrical entertainment). Which unfold when … through wily verbal wit and wizardly fluid dance and lusty song. Each character’ s personification is uniquely different, yet alike to the genre’ s ethos. The genius in Paul Glaser’ s revamped mélange is originality, inserting current pop culture and topics without muddling its theme, and minimal props and costumes.
Onstage, three characters straightaway snare our attention with their planning and scheming about the ensuing performance. Charles Perrault’ s French fairy tale, Le Petit Chaperon rouge, will be performed in English as Little Red Riding Hood. This charmant, pre-seventeenth-century European fable classic has wit, humor, and clear messages for all ages. The rambunctious three welcome and engage us as“ helpers” in thwarting the wicked wolf.
As the tale takes off, it’ s clear that Little Red Riding Hood is a dear that the doe’ s magic simply enhances. She’ s on a quest to Grandma’ s home, set deep in the darkly dangerous forest. Red reminds us to help her by calling out should we see the Big Bad Wolf. Naturally, no path is worth taking if it’ s too easy and without misadventures. Red has those aplenty: poof! and where’ s Mary Lou?; walking in circles and a pervasive menace. Extraordinarily, there’ s a wandering fairy tale character, and she acquires a newfangled thing called a cell phone. Granny’ s in a merry mood with a pot of her favorite soup on the stove, oblivious to discretion or danger when her visitor, unnoticed, gleefully growls. Or is that his stomach? On track and much too clever for his own good, Wolf is sinisterly stacking the odds in his favor. It’ s just a question of time, and the prince, to keep the kettle from boiling over.
Casting the magical spell is Lennora Esi, Nik Breidenbach, and Petter Bjällö. The talented thespians’ deftness and imagination embellish their stagecraft
A CHRISTMAS TALE TOLD WITH A TWIST
by Marinell Haegelin
Little Red Riding Hood, a Christmas Fairy Tale
By Paul Glaser | Directed Paul Glaser
Captivated British audiences have enthusiastically embraced Christmastime pantos since the 1600s, and ETH is now introducing Hamburg audiences to this alluring seasonal delight. The multitalented creator Glaser— scriptwriter, composer and director— explains the“ what” and“ why” of this particular panto:“ I’ ve wanted to bring that wonderfully joyful and slightly outrageous tradition to Hamburg... a mix of fairy tale, musical, slapstick, and audience interaction— and it follows its own delightful rules.” For example, men play iconic female roles in outrageous costumes.“ This year we were granted a small sum from the Kulturbehörde, which finally allowed us to finance an additional production in our season... to bring the panto to life. I wanted to create a show that all children in Hamburg could enjoy, including those who might not speak perfect English.” The fairy tale’ s popularity gave Glaser the opportunity to add a modern example:“ In my version, the wolf lures Red Riding Hood to him using a cell phone.” Glaser is aware that kids are oblivious to“ the seriousness of being misled,‘ gaslit,’ or trolled by false messages from someone on a phone... panto mischief and a gentle reminder for kids growing up in today’ s digital world.”
Imagine the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show( 1975) with kiddies young and old enthusiastically bewitched and particularly loquacious when Red is talking to a granny in disguise. It’ s a delightful, invigorating experience sure to make anyone’ s day.
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