A quest to keep the joy of panto alive and kicking in these dark times
Performer Matt Slack hopes he can retrieve something from this disastrous year for theatre with a traditional show full of frivolity.
We normally do this face to face. Each November, a press release is issued inviting the press to the Birmingham Hippodrome, where they can meet one-man-colossus Matt Slack, along with a rolling support cast of starlets.
In dressing rooms beside Matt’s will be such performers as Beverley Knight, Meera Syal, Jimmy Osmond and, this year, soap-star-turned-pop-star Jason Donovan had been due.
But this is no normal year. This year, it is our turn to chase because it has been plain since summer that panto wouldn’t take place. While Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden promised that he’d get pantos up and running, anyone with a passing interest in theatre has been more than aware for six months that it simply would not happen. The crowds won’t roll in, the kids won’t shout, the dazzling special effects will be left in the lock-up and we’ll have to save our reindeer jumpers for another year.
There will, however, be a socially-distanced affair. It might not have the glitz and glamour of the Hippodrome’s annual shindig nor will it last as long. It will, however, lift the mood if only for a little while in January. Slack will be the star of the show – he always is. While Eric Morecombe shared a bill with all and sundry during festive TV specials, the nation was really only ever turning in to watch one man. So it is with Slack.
The production is able to go ahead thanks to the support of the National Lottery, which will give thousands of theatre goers the change to enjoy a socially-distanced show. The Lottery has made it viable for the Alexandra to open its doors to the general public, generating vital income for the venue and helping to restore jobs while providing much-needed cheer for pantomime lovers.
And so today, rather than sitting in his poky dressing room backstage at the Alex, Slack is on the phone from his home in Devon. We start with a compliment, expressing our sincerest appreciation for the laughter he brings each year. For make no mistake, Slack is the nonpareil when it comes to the dark art of panto. A born entertainer, he’s scratched around in drama and comedy, doing reasonably well here and there. But it’s in panto that he really takes flight; dominating the stage the way Sir Lewis Hamilton stamps his authority on an F1 race.
Like all theatre workers, he’s endured a choppy year, not knowing from one month to the next whether he’ll be back in work or not; not being entirely sure how he’ll pay the bills if the annual pay cheque doesn’t arrive.
“The whole process of panto is a lengthy one,” he explains. “It’s a 24/7 machine. This year it’s very unique under the circumstances. It’s been backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards for quite some time. Even now, it’s still uncertain, especially with further lockdowns possible. We’re taking each day as it comes and trying to stay positive. We just want that 100 per cent confirmation it will go ahead.”
Let’s hope it does. The show is due to run from January 16 to 31, when it is hoped the tiers may have been altered, and there’ll be all sorts of protocols in place. Households will sit in groups of between two and six and there’ll be contactless entry. Those who feel unwell will be urged to stay away, there’ll be a specific door time for people to arrive, contact-free temperature checks will be used to ensure people are not above the critical 38C mark, while there’ll be sanitation stations, face coverings and in-seat ordering of drinks.
Slack is frequently astounded by the work that goes into the annual Hippodrome panto. This one, however, is something else. The aim is simple: to give people a laugh as we head into the New Year.
“We’re going to try and give the public a familiar show. We’ve got to stick to Government guidelines for everyone’s safety, including the cast and crew and staff at the theatre. Back stage and on stage will also be socially distanced.
“There are so many protocols in place it’s unreal. But the positive side is that it’s something rather than nothing. It’s quite unique. It’s still going to have the magic of panto, as well as the comedy – I am working on that as we speak. I’ll have to be honest though, trying to find humour in 2020 is quite difficult.”
Indeed it is. Slack is acutely aware that the theatrical profession has been one of the worst hit in the UK since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Shows were curtailed back in March and aside from the odd drive in here and there, there’s been nothing since then. Performers have been stuck in their living rooms, growing impatient for their fix of the limelight. Worse still, the men and women who work backstage and bring shows to life have been moonlighting as delivery drivers or leaving the profession altogether. Government grants haven’t begun to provide the necessary relief for the huge number of people who bring a show to life and a number of people with whom Slack has worked for years have had to move on to survive.
Against that backdrop, there’s only one solution: laughter. This year’s production of Robin Hood will laugh straight back at Covid-19 as families enjoy the opportunity to be transported, if only for a little while.
“We just want to give them as good a show as we can. It’s a one-act show, it goes right the way through. It’s going to be packed.”
Slack might not have the biggest name in the annual productions, but he always leads the line. He is, quite simply, the man who puts bums on seats.
But though he’s the biggest draw, he’s also a regular worker, the same as you or I. Panto is his annual pay cheque; the opportunity to make a few quid after putting in 100-hour weeks that make his audiences laugh.
And so when Covid began to spread around the world in spring, his reaction was much the same as everyone else’s: what will this mean for me?
Darker
“I’ll be honest. I do a job. I’m the same as everyone else. My instant reaction was ‘Thank God we managed to get the show done before the lockdown. I’d just done a run in panto, so financially I was okay. Then my next thought was that it would all blow over, that it wouldn’t be too serious. I think if we’re all being honest, the majority of the population thought that. Then it got darker and darker, then the realisation hit me that things were going to change for good. I knew it would be life-changing and really dramatic. Covid isn’t about work, it’s a life event. It’s bad for humanity. As the year has gone on, things have just got worse and worse.”
Lockdown came at a convenient time. He’d completed his run in last year’s show and was putting his feet up a little, while contemplating what to do this year.
“I hibernate a little before starting the dark task of putting stuff together for the next year. So post-panto, you’ll find me on the golf course as I try to recharge.
“So I was used to the restrictions, in a way. I could cope. But the realisation was really daunting. It really changed my whole perception of everything, my relationships with my loved ones and friends. Out of a dark time, a little lightness came as I started making an effort with people I didn’t used to make an effort with. Some things we take for granted, that’s what I learned during lockdown.
“It was an eye-opener. Covid made me appreciate the simpler things. It felt like life’s way of saying ‘stop, everyone slow down and appreciate what you’ve got’. In my case, it reminded me to stop chasing what I hadn’t got and to start thinking about what I’d achieved rather than what I hadn’t.”
Light
Inevitably, there were low moments, even for the man who brings so much happiness and light.
“Mental health is a tough one. But everyone is allowed to feel rubbish every now and then. You’re allowed to feel a bit anxious and a bit down. It’s a tough time.”
Though Slack is the man who audiences know and love, he works in conjunction with panto Svengali Michael Harrison, one of theatreland’s most astute and influential movers and shakers.
Harrison is the businessman and creative who has produced more than 100 pantomimes, including The London Palladium productions of Cinderella, Dick Whittington (winner of the Olivier Award for best Entertainment and Family), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, all of which he also devised and directed.
Slack doffs his cap to the man theatre-goers never see who makes the show come to life.
He says: “I have to say, Michael Harrison has been quite an inspiration. His attitude to the whole thing and his persistence in trying to get a show on for the public has been unbelievable. A lot of people think the January show is for financial gain. No, it isn’t.
“We want to provide work for the cast and we want to give the audience some joy. We want to put people back in the industry because they haven’t been looked after by the Government. Michael is literally trying to give people jobs. He’s been an absolute gentleman, an inspiration, he really has.”
Relationship
Things won’t be quite the same when the show moves from the Hippodrome to the Alexandra. Slack thinks of the Second City as his second home and while looking forward to new horizons, he’ll miss his favourite manor.
“I was so sad this year because when you’ve got a relationship like I have with the West Midlands audiences it’s tough. The love I’ve built up with the audiences over the years is quite breath-taking. It’s something I don’t take for granted. I work hard and it’s appreciated and what you see is what you get. It made me feel so sad when people say it won’t be the same without seeing me at Xmas.
“To have that effect and make people happy, to change their lives a bit, is quite special. I do look through old messages to remind myself how happy the panto makes people.
“When we’re doing the shows, it’s just heads down, get up, do the show, go home have a glass of wine and do it all again the next day. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I do. But at times like this, you appreciate it all the more. I’m privileged to have that connection with the local audience.”
He’s looking forward to working with Craig Revel Horwood, as he looks forward each time to working with new headline acts.
“It’s great to work with different people. it’s like having my own show. It’s like the Matt Slack Show – Matt Slack and Friends. How lucky am I to go back each year? When I find out who I’ll be working with, the comedy starts. It’s so exciting to be working with people each year. A lot of the people I work with become solid friends. Beverley is coming to my wedding next year. Steve McFadden has become a best mate. You strike up relationships with people that last a lifetime. It’s a special time, panto. Everyone has to work their backside off. To get this brilliant show up and running takes a lot of hard work and there’s nothing else like it. It’s a special environment.”
Celebration
And so as thoughts turn to January, Slack is looking forward to giving it his all. “If ever I’ve got anything to do with it, the audience will be in tears of laughter. It will be a celebration. Yes, this year’s show will be shorter but it will still be packed. We won’t have ensemble members or the big special effects, we’re not allowed to do that in the environment we’re in. It’s all about going back to the pure talent of the charcaters.
“Me and Craig will be fun. It’ll old fashioned and back to basics. The audience will laugh. I know when I walk out on that stage, it’ll be fun.
“I have to keep coming up with the goods and I promise you I will. People can look forward to pure escapism for an hour and 15 minutes. They can sit there with their mask on and forget about everything, forget about Covid, and have fun.
“Craig is a gift – he really is. I met him once while we were doing Aladdin, he was doing the Strictly tour.
“I sat on his lap and we had a picture. He seemed a lovely genuine man, the complete opposite of what you see on the TV. He’s a real talent as well.
“To have him in the show and for him to allow me to run around and have a bit of fun at his expense is great. He doesn’t mind. The people I work with don’t mind me having something in jest. There are no egos on that stage. We’re all a team and it’s all about making the audience laugh.”
In this darkest of years, laughter will be the perfect tonic.
