As part of the 12 Tiny Plays project we had planned to turn one or two of the scripts into short audio dramas.
However, when Lockdown 2.0 hit we realised that recording any of our gorgeous plays in our tiny recording booth was just not going to be feasible.
And so - we did that thing we do and came up with a new idea - and so The Panto-logues were born.
5 inter-linked monologues (and so possible to record in the studio without breaking any lockdown rules) which tell the story of Beauty and the Beast but with a twist. … All the characters are the folk who work in the theatre; the usher, the stage manager, the lighting operator, and the actor having a cheeky cup of tea in the Green Room.
Our incredible Website Wizard Chris has made a doll’s house of an interactive theatre audio experience - it’s beautiful. You have to go and check it out. (From December 1st)
This is our love letter to the theatre; to the theatre we are missing, to the theatre that (even if some pantos can go ahead) those of us who are shielding can not go, to the theatre that we are waiting to get back to, to the theatre we dream about, to the theatre we worry about, to the theatre we care about.
And the final character we meet in The Panto-logues, the child in the audience (here voiced by Rachel’s own little boy) who, in just one evening, has fallen in love with the magic of theatre, and will without doubt be in love with it forever; he reminds us why we do the job we do. Because when you see a child at the end of a magical performance, their eyes bright with wonder - all the hard work and heartache and early mornings and late nights and back breaking exhaustion that it takes to make a show - it makes it worth it, it reminds us why you do it. And that’s what The Panto-logues is really about.
And we can’t wait to see those bright eyes in person, and we can’t wait to be part of the journey that so many young audiences take when they fall in love with theatre.
So, next week, log in to our website, take the journey of The Panto-logues, enjoy ALL our resources, make a bit of theatre at home, and keep dreaming and hoping that soon we’ll all be back together, finding our seats and waiting with breath held, for the lights in the auditorium to go down and the lights on the stage to go up.
