The corny gags, slapstick, cartoon baddies and singalongs beloved of traditional pantomime will be given a new spin later this year in what is billed as Britain’s first professional Jewish panto.
Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig will be staged at JW3, the Jewish arts and culture centre in north London, over Hanukah, the festival of lights. The goal was to a new panto tradition, said William Galinsky, JW3’s director of programming.
With audiences still “a bit shy” about returning post-pandemic, Galinsky said they wanted to create something to bring families and new audiences together, “and it seemed that what was missing was a uniquely Jewish panto. We saw a gap in the market”.
“Panto is one of the oldest and best-loved British traditions, one of the few times a year people young and old come together to experience the joys of the theatre. The Jewish community has a long history of theatre, and now is the time we brought those two traditions together.”
As a child, Galinsky would go to the panto in his home town of Leeds – his first experience of theatre: “I liked the absence of decorum, that you could shout out, participate, that it was funny, the knockabout, that there were lots of other families and lots of other children. It made you feel part of a community. So it gave me a lot of joy.”
Galinsky assembled a team of young Jewish creatives, including the writer Nick Cassenbaum, director Georgia Green, musical director Josh Middleton and associate producer Becky Plotnek.
Their panto is set during Hanukah, with Little Red Riding Hood’s village in need of a new electricity source at an affordable price. Characters include a bad pig and Bubbe, the Jewish grandmother, who may save the day with her “special wind”.
A three-piece band will join the cast live on stage, playing traditional instruments – including an accordion, Bulgarian bagpipe and Irish whistle – and singing a mix of Jewish pop and traditional songs with panto lyrics.
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“Like all the best family entertainment, it works at a number of different levels. I’m confident a four-year-old will find it very funny. But also [adults] will find it funny at a more sophisticated level,” said Galinsky.
JW3 is a Jewish cultural centre, but not religious, he added. “We’re open to all. This year we celebrated Passover, Easter and Ramadan together. We run a food bank that serves 150 households, none of whom are Jewish.”
For Green, who is currently transferring her Bush theatre production of Invisible to New York, it will be her panto debut.
“This is like a form that I have loved and was my touchpoint with theatre as a child, as I think it was for many people,” she said. “The thought of infusing that with Jewishness was really exciting.
“At the centre of Jewish storytelling traditions, there is a push for connection with the audience, and acknowledgment of the people watching, so that you can’t leave a story without being touched by it. And I think that’s kind of what’s inherent about panto.”
Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig opens at JW3 on 10 December until 7 January, including a matinee performance on Christmas Day
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/jun/22/britain-jewish-panto-red-riding-hood-jw3
