Panto in August? Whatever next?! Well, hopefully something as crackingly good as Johnny McKnight’s nuanced love-letter to Panto, and the craft of the Pantomime Dame. ‘She’s Behind You’ summons him to the stage as alter-go Dorothy Blawna-Gale, clad in gingham, impossibly curvaceous, and made up to the nines. Yet, whilst she’s come to entertain, Dorothy is looking to open a discussion.
You’ll never meet a bigger fan of panto and its centuries of tradition than McKnight; you’ll never meet a Dame quite so determined to break its rules to save its spirit. “Kill the Old”, Dorothy says, or you’re doomed to repeat the sins of the past.
However, as calls to change go, ‘She’s Behind You’ has to rank amongst the most delightful. McKnight and Director John Tiffany wrap this Summer present in delicious songs, audience interaction and very cheeky humour. This appeal to treat pantomime as a living, evolving art form is an out-and-out crowdpleaser. The sheer joy the show generates in Traverse One is something else.
It opens with a bang, and a heap of nostalgic storytelling, Dorothy swooping out of the stalls and onto stage to welcome the audience, and induct any newcomers to panto with a cracking introductory ditty. No one could love panto more; nor could you find a more charismatic evangelist for the art form itself.
“The sheer joy the show generates in Traverse One is something else.“
“You don’t just see panto, panto sees you” he enthuses, recalling a formative encounter with the legendary Johnnie Beattie as Aye Gaeity’s dame, before growing up to find his place on stage. First, as the non-threatening, and definitely asexual Silly Billy (think Buttons in Cinderella), then as the Dame, he gave it everything he had.
But back in 2006, McKnight was still keeping his sexuality to himself in more ways than one, and leaning into the problematic patterns panto had evolved into. Dorothy winces, recalling earlier incarnations as crude cultural stereotypes and jokes which tended to punch down. It was also, he laments, a “sausage factory” with little to no place for women.
Yet if you check out a Johnny McKnight panto in the 2020’s you’ll find it a riot of diversity and representation, with a 50/50 male/female cast balance, and its aim directed squarely up. As for Johnny, sorry, Dorothy, well, you just try to stop him from flirting with the dads in the front row.
‘She’s Behind You’ is compelling, the tale of how that came to pass. Whilst it’s not plain sailing, we know where the story ends, at least for now. Along the way, McKnight has taken on lessons besides ‘Kill the Old’, including ‘Think carefully about what you’re doing’ – suffice it to say, even the noblest souls can wander into error, once they feel bulletproof.
Yet if McKnight has learned lessons, he’s yet to see the change he’s made in his person and panto practice, replicated throughout the pantosphere. ‘She’s Behind You’ is thus a clarion call for a tectonic shift throughout the pantosphere. It’s hard to argue with his effect on box office sales every Christmas, so maybe, just maybe, some of the right people will be listening. If not, will he and Dorothy give up? Oh no, they won’t! (No apologies.)
Show details
Venue: Venue 15: Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED (Google Maps)
Date(s): Fri 01 Aug to Sun 24 Aug (21 shows)
Time(s): Multiple show times, 7:00pm (75 mins) (1 show), 10:30am (75 mins) (1 show), 9:30pm (75 mins) (7 shows), 9:45pm (75 mins) (12 shows)
Age recommendation: 14+
Price: From £20 (concessions available)
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