a panto for the new year

"panto" is the abbreviated version of "pantomime," the traditional british play/comedy/musical which involves women acting in male roles, ala gwynnie in "shakespeare in love."  no one says "pantomime" here and everyone attends one during the christmas season, even though the papers routinely pan them because they lack this or that.  but who doesn't like ribald humor?  who doesn't like to boo and hiss?  and who doesn't like a show full of broad jokes where parents can wink at each other over their children's heads?

we see ours, "peter pan," at the richmond theatre, which is where the film "finding neverland" was shot.  located in a lovely spot right off the richmond green, it is small and ornate and lit just enough to make it cosy and intimate rather than cold and formal.  we arrive fifteen minutes early, enough time to purchase the mandatory thematic glow sticks for the kids and contemplate a drink at the bar on our level.  "champagne?" i ask chris.  it is, after all, our 11th anniversary.  "we only have it by the bottle," intones the server.  chris raises his eyebrows and gives me a hopeful grin.  geesh, i think, we are not 38 going on 18.  "we are not chugging champagne," i scold.  the server interrupts, "you can drink in the theatre..." i raise my eyebrows now, and give chris the green-light smile.  he can barely contain his glee.  

we schlep the kids and our drinks into the theatre.  we can tell from the outset that it will be an entertaining production, and we actually have lived here long enough that we think we get the cultural references.  well, at least we laugh knowingly in the right spots.  tally vacillates between wanting to believe the characters are real and knowing they are actors, so it holds some magic for her still.  joe blurts out immediately about peter pan, "{s}he's not really flying -- i see the strings -- look!!!" and i clap my hand over his mouth so he doesn't steal the unreality from tally. 

we boo and hiss at captain hook, sing "what will we do with the drunken sailor" loudly and with much merriment and generally have a great time.  chris and i grin at each other every once in awhile because we are DRINKING IN THE THEATRE.  so, no, there are no grown-ups on- or off-stage on this day.