So, Saturday night I reacquainted myself with pantomime after a gap of sixty years or so. I think the last panto I saw was Aladdin at the Alhambra in Bradford c.1965. Well why not? Much has changed and Canadian Stage’s Robin Hood; written by Matt Murray and directed by Mary-Francis Moore discards much that would once have been seen as de rigueur. I guess much more fluid gender roles, general acceptance of same sex relationships and, maybe, less familiarity with the canonical stories means that what once seemed risqué now seems passé and absent a general idea of how the story should go there’s more freedom to experiment.
operaramblings 