Capital Theatres’ annual pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, opens on the 13th of December at the Festival Theatre. We had the privilege of speaking to Scottish pantomime favourites Clare Gray (Pat the Cow) and Gail Watson (The Spirit of the Beans) about the community of pantomime stars and enjoyers, the irreplaceability of the genre, and what we can expect from this reimagination of a popular panto.
There is something comforting, familiar, and festive in panto-going as a magical event for families and people of all ages. It’s an annual and communal tradition that doesn’t go unnoticed to the actors, with Watson and Gray recognising familiar faces who pick the same seats year after year. Watson remembers a primary school Head Teacher, “always sat in the third back row at the side – she’s up there every year!”
Jack and the Beanstalk has the same cast as last year’s pantomime at the Festival Theatre, Cinderella – a pattern Watson likens to a “cosy blanket – people like familiarity… like, I can relax, I know these people!” Gray, a 7-year Edinburgh King’s Panto regular, shares this view that community connection is at the heart of the genre, humorously comparing this reliability to the reason why children love McDonalds so much: “it’ll always taste the same, no matter where you are.”
The panto community is not only strong among panto-goers but within the close-knit cast. Having played the evil stepsisters Vindicta and Manipulata Fortuna in Cinderella last year, Gray and Watson’s friendship has only grown. For Watson, she had known Gray for many years but had never had the chance to work with her – “I just fell in love with her.” After Gray cuts in “and vice versa”, Watson remarks on the tight-knit friendships among the whole cast: “you get very lucky as actors – you get to meet the most beautiful people.”
Pantomime’s long history of family tradition dates back to the early 18th century in Britain, but even in the modern day, this tradition of intergenerational enjoyment continues. For many children, pantomime is their first exposure to the theatre – “often their only theatrical experience for a long while,” Watson noted. Chatting to a mother later at the Jack and the Beanstalk launch who brings her child every year, she explained the magic doesn’t dull with time. Her parents had brought her to the panto a few times, and she now brings her son every Christmas – a magical, meaningful tradition that they both look forward to.
Both Gray and Watson talk passionately about the ‘relaxed performances’ that happen every year – a chance for people with communication and sensory needs to have access to theatre. Adjusting environmental factors makes theatre not only accessible for those who might normally fear or avoid it due to it being an unfamiliar environment, but as Watson points out, also provides much needed respite for carers of children.
For Gray and Watson, panto’s purpose is to provide intergenerational joy, and an environment in which people can switch off and come together in laughter. It’s not easy to entertain kids and adults simultaneously; despite this, Gray commented on the fact that panto is often seen as a “lesser form of theatre”, or a “joke” – you can “spot from a mile away” if actors think they’re above performing in them. Panto, like any other theatre form, is a craft.
Watson is excited to tap into the innocent coyness of the Spirit of the Beans, with lines laced with double entendres that will fly over children’s heads: “you’ll need to deliver [them] with such innocence that they’re not aware that it can be taken a different way.” She is eager to embody this “feminine whimsy – you can play on that beautiful side that as a female you can do.” She likens her character’s demeanour to Ariana Grande’s Glinda or Dolly Parton – she’s got the hair for it, she points out.
With this being the last year of the Capital Theatres panto taking place at the Festival Theatre before its long-awaited return to the King’s Theatres, we ask Watson and Gray whether they feel any great change would come with the move. Much in line with panto’s adaptability and accessibility, both agree that the space will not impact the feel of the performance – the community and shared laughter between actors and audience will never change.
Photo by Greg Macvean, courtesy of the Festival Theatre.
