Nostalgia: Curtain's up for festive frolics

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 10:02

ROBINSON Crusoe dropped anchor at the King's Theatre today with his Caribbean pirates, while visitors to the Royal Lyceum Theatre can now be whisked off to Neverland as part of this year's festive pantomime, Peter Pan.

With Sinbad The pantomime featuring The Little Mermaid already under way at Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh, the annual season of dames, leading boys and cheesy jokes is here again. Oh yes, it is.

The tradition of pantomime dates back centuries – one definition of the word suggests that it is the art of using movement and facial expressions, rather than primarily the spoken word, to communicate, with its origins thought to date back to the Middle Ages. Originally silent, panto is now the complete opposite, with both the performers and the audience expected to join in the general raucous hilarity.

Panto has always attracted major stars, willing to don knee-high boots and outlandish false moustaches for months at a time, as our pictures of city pantos from the past show.

The main photograph captures Stanley Baxter and Ronnie Corbett as the Ugly Sisters dressed as golf bags in a stage version of the Cinderella at the King's Theatre in December 1967.

The pair were praised for their colourful part in the panto, which even saw Baxter perform a hilarious ballerina act.

At the same theatre in 1972, Scottish actors Bill Simpson and Russell Hunter took on the role of the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella.

But this wasn't the only pantomime to have entertained crowds at the King's over the years, with Jack and the Beanstalk, Babes in the Wood, Mother Goose, and Sleeping Beauty among a few of the others.

Christina Collier is pictured in a stunning floor-length dress as Princess Beauty in Sleeping Beauty at the King's in 1983, with Jack Milroy as King Francie and Rikki Fulton in drag as Queen Josie.

However, the production was widely criticised for its overpowering volume, and a lack of imaginative material.

Four years later, the theatre's pantomime was Jack and the Beanstalk, with the villain of the piece a 10ft foam rubber baddie called Giant Blunderball. Una McLean is pictured getting up close and personal with the synthetic rogue, alongside co-star Jimmy Logan, in 1987. Giant Blunderball was constructed at the district council's scenic workshops in Bernard Terrace.

Una had also starred in Sleeping Beauty, with Rikki Fulton in drag, in December 1976.

&#149 Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates will be shown at the King's from today until 17 January, while visitors to the Royal Lyceum Theatre can watch Peter Pan – which got under way yesterday – until 3 January.

Sinbad The Pantomime featuring The Little Mermaid will run until Saturday, 2 January.