Inside Pantoland

In our reality, there are two worlds that, although they are opposites in their ways, they co-exist and are even interlinked. The common denominator is us. Human beings. We live in the real, tangible world, but we have the incredible ability to create, although intangible, entirely new worlds inside our heads. And we can do it very quickly. They say God created the world in seven days. Well, so can we. Actually, we can create a world in minutes or even seconds. Not only that, but we have discovered a way to transfer our imaginings from the created world inside our heads to the real world outside of our heads. Show me a god that can integrate one world into another. We do this, through the medium of theatre.

Here at SpectromagicUK Productions and Scripts, we specialise in writing pantomimes. Being in a position where we can daily create different regions and countries of Pantoland is a lot of fun. We regularly visit anywhere between the far eastern villages and palaces of Aladdin, the deep dark forests of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood, to the swashbuckling high seas and adventurous islands of Treasure Island. But what does it take? What goes into creating a world which can provide us with seasonal escapism and keeps bringing us back to Pantoland year after year? Memories. What creates memories? Memorable things. And Pantoland is full of them.

Characters

Pantoland has a plethora of colourful characters of all different types that make up its population. Some are male, some female, some characters can be either, and some are of the new emerging genders. Most are likeable, and some not so much. Some of them thrive on making us laugh with silly antics and witty jokes. Some are misguided but always find the path of the good in the end. Some of them lust after self-indulgent power, and some of them are happy to just be. Some of them we love, and some of them we love to hate. Some are born into wealth where others have worked hard all their lives or have lost everything. Some love to sing and dance and charm while others swoon over unrequited loves. Some can even cast the most magnificent mesmerising spells which are common in Pantoland. One thing they all have in common though, is they are all larger than life. They encompass us outsiders when we watch a pantomime, draw us in, accept us and welcome us into their land and lives. They connect with us and sometimes we discover we can relate to them thus strengthening a bond between us in the real word and our new friends in Pantoland.

Adventures

Adventures are the backbone of any visit to Pantoland and are an integral part of the great stories that our characters have to tell. They take us deep into dark forests, to balls in beautiful chariots. To mystical caves with magic lamps. From mundane capital cities to islands with pirates, fairies and children with eternal youth. They bring excitement. They bring danger, they bring personal journeys where characters are taken out of their comforts zones and discover a newfound bravery about themselves that they may not have realised they had. The audience sees this and these shared experiences can improve the connection and camaraderie between us in the real world, and our Pantoland friends.

Imagination & magic

Every single Character in Pantoland has a story to tell. Be it about glass slippers and princes, lamps and flying carpets, Big bad wolfs or evil and greedy sheriffs, these stories are known all over the world. But here at SpectromagicUK Productions and Scripts, we embrace our ability to dream and like to introduce new ways in which our Pantoland companions can tell their stories. These can be topical events which happen in our world which they can reference in their stories and even make jokes about in theirs, our technology such as lights, sound and staging effects, which can enhance their storytelling, or even taking a new modern view on their stories. Maybe it’s the princess who saves the prince?

Song, dance & comedy

Much of Pantoland’s population are happy-go-lucky people. They like to sing as loud as they can, move those dancing feet and crack jokes at every opportunity. This makes them incredibly endearing which in turn makes us want to spend more time with them on whatever journeys they take us on. Nothing quite like an upbeat song and dance routine just before going to rescue someone. Nothing eases the tension like a quick witted one liner joke to humiliate an evil opponent in a moment of danger.

Tradition and familiarity

Like most of us in the real world, our Pantoland companions are sticklers for tradition and familiarity. Familiarity brings comfort and Pantoland is one of the most fun comfortable places that we visit. We fully know what to expect. We know that there will always be a great protagonist, an equally strong antagonist. Plenty of song, dance and slapstick. A hilarious dame and a wise cracking friend or sibling. We can go there knowing that even at the end of an exciting adventure, everything will be okay. Characters come out on top, they fall in love and good always triumphs over evil. The audience in the real world play a great part in the outcome of the adventure in Pantoland. We can do this through the tradition of audience participation. We will be there to support the characters by disagreeing with the villains, shouting when ghosts appear, shouting encouragement, singing along with songs and cheering when victorious at the end.

So there we have it. These are just some of the magical indgredients that can create a fantastic visit to Pantoland. Every time we create a new script, not only are we introducing a new story, but a new visit into a world that creates experiences there and transports them into our world. We retain these memories in our world where we can enjoy them and then tempt ourselves to revisit Pantoland again next year. The cycle goes round year after year and from generation to generation. It’s because of that, that no matter what is happening in our world, we will always have an ability to visit theirs. And that is the true magic of Pantomime.