At around 10.15pm on Saturday evening the red curtain of the Bryce Institute closed on 2011’s panto ‘Aladdin’ for the final time. The cheers and applause of the crowd could still just about be heard above our own whoops and shouts as cast members hugged, high fived and generally breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over and that we could now finally get our lives back.
Three months of long winter rehearsals on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, followed by two weeks of performances every day (except for two) had taken their toll on the cast, as many – myself included – succumbed to an astonishing variety of flu bugs all of which having the same effect on each of us: making us feel like death warmed up.
Yet, not one of us missed a single performance and as far as I know we gave it everything we had each time we went out there.
Now it’s all over and the bugs are slowly but surely working their way out of our systems, we stop and have time to look at ourselves. I found that my hair had grown grey and long (for me) and that I was almost sheet-white. Further post-panto analysis revealed legs and shoulders covered in bruises and significant weight-loss, which admittedly is not necessarily a bad thing.
So, given all this, my question is: what on earth is it that makes us do this? We don’t get paid for it! Why do we sacrifice the better part of three months of our own precious spare time knowing that we will be performing the same thing for only two weeks before it’s all over? After all that, the costumes return to the loft and – heartbreakingly – huge lumps of scenery are piled onto the bonfire!
It’s not just the performers: what about those behind the scenes? The director, lighting and sound, choreographer, chaperones, set builders, stage crew, props, costumes, box office, front of house. All of whom have to come together to make the show work and every time they do it voluntarily. Why?!!
I won’t speak for those who operate behind the scenes, but I would make an educated guess that they take great pride in what they do in helping the show along. For example, I know that our Stage Manager was gutted after a matinee performance where a few technical cues had gone awry – not to any great detriment to the show, but he knew it hadn’t gone as it should.
The lovely lady who runs our box office was over the moon when ticket sales for a performance went over the £1000 mark. Why should she be so happy? It’s not like she gets a cut (at least I don’t think she does…).
It’s that rare and wonderful thing where people have a shared interest in coming together for the common good or in this case: the entertainment of a lot of other people!
That’s right! Any amateur performance of anything is built on one thing: love.
The director finds a script that he loves and that he thinks other people will enjoy and they in turn infect the performers, the choreographer, the set builders, the sound and lighting technicians etc. and before you know it the bug has spread and everyone is pulling in the same direction to make it happen.
Speaking as an amateur performer (which here shall mean: show off), my love is being in front of a crowd with the sole purpose of making them laugh. When it goes badly because the gag is poorly timed or the audience has simply failed to respond, it is crushing. When it goes well and you hear the laughter and the accompanying applause, you are reminded of why you sacrificed all that spare time. You know why you put yourself through hell in trying to learn lines. You remember why you consumed an alarming volume of cold/flu remedies to keep yourself upright and you know that as long as that audience keep laughing, you’ll keep putting yourself through it all.
Fortunately, we were blessed with a fairly solid script, a decent team managing and directing us and an enthusiastic and youthful cast to drive us forward. Moreover, it was wonderful to be part of something in this increasingly materialistic world that was driven purely by people doing what they loved for the enjoyment of others.
It is that very same love that those bruised and wearied individuals will call on for the next project they are eyeing up.
If I have my way it will be Die Hard: The Musical.
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