IT IS late November and a heavy fall of snow has launched the whirlwind of Christmas here in Limerick and preparations and rehearsals for Lime Tree Theatre’s pantomime of ‘Rapunzel’ written by Mike Finn are up and running.
This year’s panto is directed by Michael Finneran, the company will present 34 shows from December 8 2024 to January 7 2025.
Returning Lime Tree Panto cast members Aidan Crowe, Jessica Bray, Cora Fenton, James Corr and Eleanor O’Brien, are joined by new recruits Hazel Park, Nigel Dugdale and a fantastic ensemble support cast.
Limerick Post chatted with Aidan Crowe after the first table read of Mike Finn’s script for Rapunzel. Limerickman Aidan was in last year’s cast and has recently played in House! (Fidget Feet Aerial Dance), The Titans That Built America (History Channel) and Bread Not Profits (Gúna Nua) to name just a few productions.
“We just had a read through of the final draft of the script, and we started blocking it yesterday.
“It’s a typical Mike script in the sense that he sets a high standard for himself but it is a different one as well. Rapunzel is not a panto or a story that’s told very often in the panto world. Mike really loved getting into the story, he had to go and research, so I would say it will be really interesting for people to see it, because it’s one of those stories that’s not told so often.”
“We laughed a lot at the reading in the rehearsal room yesterday, so we’re very excited to be doing this.”
Rapunzel is a classic fairytale of a girl imprisoned in a tall tower with no stairs or doors. The only way in is by climbing Rapunzel’s long, golden hair, which she lets down for the witch to ascend. The girl’s beautiful singing attracts attention and may be her only way to escape. You will have to go to Lime Tree Theatre this Christmas to find out if there is a Happy Ever After ending
Aidan plays an old school theatrical dame called Madam Fettuccine. He leads a travelling theatre group who happen upon the town of Sleepyville where Rapunzel is from and they try to get her to join their group after hearing her sing.
Mike Finn’s script and Mike Finneran’s directing leave Madam Fettuccine plenty of time to improvise with the audience at each show.
“For me, and I know for Mike, and for Mike Finneran as well we love the idea that for each show that we do the audience leave feeling that it was a unique show for them. People go to a pantomime expecting some audience interaction. They enjoy those times when stuff happens on stage and people corpse and it’s one of those things that I think an audience expects.”
And speaking of today’s audience, they have a multitude of activities and distractions, interactive video gaming and headsets to take you to a virtual world, but Panto in Limerick is still a big deal with audiences flocking to three offerings across the city this season, how has the traditional stayed such an integral part of Christmas??
“It’s interesting, when we did the first Panto in Lime Tree Theatre three years ago, it was just after lockdown and what we found there was a lot of the audience who would have been four or five years old, who grew up during the pandemic.
“So going to the theatre was completely alien to them. But over the last year, you could see those people coming back and having that real, real understanding of the format of a Panto. The breaking of the fourth wall, that they, the kids, can influence the story, shouting “He’s behind you!’ and experiencing the “liveness” of it all.”
“A panto moves quickly, there’s the storyline, there’s music, there’s dance, there’s comedy. Everyone loves to be told a story, everyone loves watching a story. And if, if we do it right, kids will be engaged in the entire thing, and they’ll go home, they’ll be talking about it afterwards, and that’s, that’s the magic for us, and that’s, kind of, why we do it.”
“We don’t see kids in the audience with phones out. We don’t see kids getting distracted. They are so engaged, it’s incredible to see.”
“It’s magic. I think parents are often sometimes surprised at looking at their own kids and seeing that kind of like absolute suspension of disbelief, and they just go with the story, and they’re just so into it.”
At the launch of Rapunzel some months ago we got to hear Hazel Park singing a piece from her lead role. She has a wonderful voice and is a new addition to the cast this year
“She has an absolutely beautiful voice, obviously a great addition. I met her for the first time after she was cast in June or July, and straight away you could tell she just had this amazing lovely energy, and she’s an incredible singer and incredible actor.”
So over 34 shows the cast of Rapunzel will sing, dance and corpse their way to a hopefully, Happy Ever After. They do get three days off at Christmas to be with families but Aidan says that they all feel that they are very much at the centre of the holiday at Lime Tree.
“What’s nice about doing work at this time of year is that it is part of that Christmas tradition. And you feel it in the audience.
It’s a part of their Christmas tradition, like people wearing Christmas jumpers, like going to the panto is like going to see Santa. It’s one of those traditions.”
