Pantos 'vital' to theatres' success - oh yes they are!

Sleeping Beauty will be performed at the Swan Theatre in Worcester over Christmas

It's not that time of year again is it? Oh yes it is!

Colourful costumes are being prepared, lines with questionable jokes are being learned and the stages are being set for 2025's pantomime season.

Families will soon be joining in the annual tradition of bellowing "Behind you!" as menacing baddies creep up on unsuspecting heroes and heroines across the UK.

Yet while Christmas pantos are the perfect opportunity and excuse for silliness, it is serious business for the theatres putting on the productions.

For many, it will be the busiest time of the year and one that, financially, will help venues through the quieter periods on the calendar.

Sarah-Jane Morgan, chief executive and artistic director at Worcester Theatres, said work on this year's pantomime at the city's Swan Theatre started almost as soon as the last one was over.

"It is vital for what we do and for our sustainability as an organisation," she said.

"It is just so important for us in terms of our finances but more than that, it's the time we connect with the most people in our community."

Sarah-Jane Morgan said the pantomime season was an important time of the theatre's year

The theatre will be staging Sleeping Beauty from 28 November to 4 January and during that period, more than 19,000 audience members are expected to attend the 360-seater venue's run of 68 performances.

Without that surge in theatre goers, Ms Morgan said there would be a "huge detrimental effect" on a theatre's financial situation.

"I think it would be really challenging if you took away the opportunity to put some pennies in the bank at Christmas for many, many theatres, especially those under 500 seats," she said.

"We would see a lot more doors closing on venues and it would take the heart out of a lot of local communities as well."

But Ms Morgan said there was no chance of the pantomime ever going away, describing it as a "really special" event, included in many families' Christmas traditions.

"It's just magical because pantomime is full of colour, full of song, full of dance, full of sparkle and it goes hand-in-hand with everything that Christmas is about."

Dick Whittington is this year's pantomime at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury

Elsewhere in the West Midlands, Dick Whittington will be performed at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury from 28 November to 4 January.

By the end of September, the run was already 70% sold out and that has now risen to 84%, assistant theatre manager Craig Reeves confirmed.

He has worked at Theatre Severn for 16 years and said he had seen the panto grow "enormously" over that time.

"It's crucial to our success really," he said. "We dedicate seven or eight weeks of our calendar to it so you can imagine if that wasn't successful, what an impact it would have.

"The fact that it is so successful is a huge benefit to the theatre."

About 84% of tickets for Dick Whittington at Theatre Severn have been sold already

He said audiences during pantomime season made up about a fifth of the theatre's annual attendance figure of about 240,000.

It was the most profitable show of the year as well, Mr Reeves added, and the money it brings in allows the theatre to "be a bit braver", in an artistic sense, with its other programming through the year.

"If the panto didn't do well, it would negatively impact our ability to be adventurous," he added.

Mr Reeves said it was always a joy to see the venue busy during pantomime season and the age range of the audience members who attend.

"It's unlike anything else," he added. "It's got different jokes and bits of fun that appeal to all ages.

"I think that's the best thing – it just has such a broad appeal and means different generations of families can enjoy it together."