Panto Fun — Lowri Madoc’s Memories from 1981

Pantomime is a family Christmas tradition that many of us in the UK will sadly miss out on this year.

To keep the spirit of panto alive this season, we asked R&D Publishing author Lowri Madoc to share some of her memories of growing up in the theatre as the daughter of the “principal boy” at this most wonderful time of the year.

Panto Fun…

Christmas 1981 was a good one. Although they were all pretty good, spent the same, fun way. I would go to work with mum every day, backstage in one of the glorious, major provincial theatres of the UK, usually a different one each year. Mum in Panto was an absolute given in our family’s calendar — a permanent fixture every year. It’s a time I loved and am so very grateful for. This was my everyday life, but how very special and unique it was.

When I was aged between 6 to 18, mum played principal boy, every year, with such glamour. The sights and smells of being backstage — intensely evocative. Her dressing room was always full of great ‘stuff’ over Christmas as she would pretty much move in for three months.

The productions were lavish. Costumes to die for. The smell of pancake stage makeup and the ‘half-hour call’ marked the count-down to showtime. I can remember stroking her gorgeous, Wolford-shiny legs as she got ready. Short costumes and high-heeled boots showed off her great legs. Dick Whittington or Robin Hood were her usual roles, so a feathered cap on top of her iconic, jet-black, short hair completed the look. With a little assistance from Wonderbra, some false lashes and bright red lipstick, not to mention her sword fighting skills and RADA training — she was a force to be reckoned with, by any baddie’s standards! She did it all with great ease and expertise.

If there were a spare seat in the auditorium, I would often be allowed front-of-house to watch, and I always had my favourite bits. These usually involved the dancers and exciting choreography, or the comedians who would often make mum corpse.

My favourite was Les Dawson. For a few seasons, he played the nurse in Babes In The Wood. During one of the scenes, he would make raspberry-farty noises, deep into his mic, just at the point when mum lifted her leg to climb through the scenery window…