Motley crews welcome at annual panto

A SWASHBUCKLING adventure will take to the stage next week when Bendigo Theatre Company opens their annual pantomime.

The production this year is an original adaptation of Treasure Island, written and directed by BTC vice-president Conor Cunningham.

Cunningham, who’s originally from Ireland, said it was the tradition of seeing pantomimes as a kid that got him into theatre.

“It was an annual trip out for us at Christmas, going to see the panto as a family, obviously it’s a very British thing going to see the panto, but it extended into Ireland and became tradition for us,” he said.

BTC’s Treasure Island will follow the classic storyline of Long John Silver’s ruthless search for the lost treasure, but will include modern songs by artists like Taylor Swift and the White Stripes.

Familiar characters such as Ariel, the spirit of the ocean, Billy Bones, and Jim Hawkins will call the audience ‘perriwinkels’ and ‘landlubbers’.

Cunningham said he was keen to keep the panto tradition alive with this show and has included the main elements of any performance in the style.

“Traditionally with the roles, the dame would be played by a male person, the principal boy played by a female, we’ll have the pantomime baddies, we’ll have the ghost,” he said.

“And we’ll have the audience participation song, they’re a lot of the key ingredients in a traditional pantomime.”

The script Cunningham wrote for Treasure Island features jokes that play on local place names and references only someone from Bendigo would understand.

“That’s tradition with panto, wherever you’re doing it you’ll bring in some local reference as well,” he said.

Classic pantomime devices for audience participation will be used heavily throughout the show, so audience members can expect lots of ‘look behind yous’ and direct interaction with cast members.

“I’m sure for a lot of kids, who’ll hopefully come along, will experience pantomime for the first time and won’t know straight up what’s expected of them or what to expect so there’ll be a bit of encouragement there,” Cunningham said.

Treasure Island will open on Thursday 11 January and will run over two weekends with the closing performance on Sunday 21 January.

Tickets are available via the Bendigo Theatre Company website.