Making the Panto: How memories of magic and make-believe come to life
Frank Mackey, aka Nanny Nellie, and Trevor Ryan, of Cork Opera House Panto. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan
It's behind you… but it’s also ahead of you.
It is many of our first exposures to live performance, and still a Christmas tradition for so many.
The origins of panto go back to ‘Commedia dell’Arte’ (comedy of the artists), a 16th-century Italian entertainment, which has evolved into the fairytale stories we see played out in theatres up and down the country every year.
Here in Ireland, panto fever took hold in the late 1700s, with the first known performance in Dublin’s Theatre Royal on Smock Alley and the first Gaiety panto dates back to 1874.
The world around it has changed, but the success of the panto still comes down to a simple formula and the promise of a ‘happy ever after’.
Who better to explain the appeal than the creatives who make the magic happen? We pulled the people behind the panto out of rehearsal and dusted off the sparkle to chat about the tradition that means as much to us as the turkey, The Toy Show and queuing up to see Santa.
Frank and Trevor are the co-writers behind the Cork Opera House panto.
Trevor also directs the productions and Frank transforms into the much-loved panto dame, Nanny Nellie.
The pair are celebrating 10 years of their partnership, friendship and shared success this year.
Over the coming weeks, will delight audiences over a 69-show run that continues through Christmas and into January.
With a panto career that spans over 20 years, Frank has seen what makes panto work.
“It’s storytelling, the story book at bed time brought to life on stage. It is make believe and magic, it brings out the child-like wonder in all ages and lets us escape.”
Frank’s voice changes as he describes the reaction of young and old to the experience of pantoland and likens it to when the excitement of an ice-cream on a sunny day: “It’s a childlike joy but it isn’t reserved for children.”
His love for this artform is palpable. “Our show and the stories we share allow children to strive for what they want, to look at the world and say ‘I can dream. I can do this’.”
Trevor’s panto story started when he was 16. He began in the chorus and when he wasn’t on stage he ‘lived in the wings’, watching and learning from the greats at the time.
Frank and Trevor bring local and international talent together to create the dream panto team, including choreographer Ciaran Connelly whose credits include Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
They also work together closely on the script, which goes through dozens of drafts.
“The script is lifted off the page from the first read through with the cast,” Trevor says.
The first draft of the script was written in May but the content is inspired throughout the year, everything is potential content from the closure of the Cork institution, Jackie Lennox’s chip shop, to the bike shed scandal at Leinster House.
Trevor’s approach is to appeal to all the audience, not just the children, which is reflected in the music — “you need current music for the kids, big dance numbers for the musical theatre fans and some classic old school songs for the parents and grandparents”.
Alan Hughes first gravitated towards panto as it provided a paid gig over Christmas, and a guaranteed income for a few months.
In those early days he was working alongside the original panto queen, Twink. He is now in his 30th consecutive year of panto.
“I think I hold the record,” he says.
It is much more than a job — Alan and his husband Karl Broderick began their own panto production company 26 years ago.
The first production in St Anthony’s Theatre, Merchants Quay was a very different production from the €300,000 extravaganza that will enthrall audiences this year when opens at the National Stadium from December 10.
Alan loves the unpredictability that comes with live theatre and children, he recalls a child roaring ‘get a room’ during the first kiss between a prince and princess on stage.
But what he adores is the audience reaction, “eyes open wide and jaws drop…. we’re getting to create lasting memories and we are so many children’s first live
theatre experience.”
Is it challenging working alongside your husband?
“Karl pushes us to go bigger, better…” Alan says, admitting sometimes he is more conservative in what he believes can be achieved. He says they both know when to step back and take a side-bar discussion.
“We know, and everyone on set knows.”
But 26 years on they clearly have a winning formula and partnership that works. So what’s the magic?
“You have to go big, there is no place for minimalism in panto.”
at the Everyman Theatre represents Catherine’s 30th production.
It almost seemed pre-destined that Catherine would end up in this role.
Her love for panto started at an early age, inspired by outings to the theatre with her musician dad and clothes designer mom.
She recalls sitting in the audience of Cinderella at a young age watching, and even critiquing that production.
“Before I went, I had a vision in my mind what it should look like, the casting, the costumes.”
Thirty years ago Catherine was nudged into panto directing and producing at the Everyman when there was a genuine concern that there would be no panto that year.
Catherine is a doer, she said she’s a “jump in first, figure out how to swim second” kind of person.
But there’s more to it than that, the panto was entrusted into a safe pair of hands and she has held it carefully every since.
“I love the process, panto takes a year, I already know next year’s title.”
Catherine says the magic of panto is in the story, “Fairytales are so familiar to us all, they keep the child alive in us, allow us to leave the real world behind and imagine…’what if’?”
She sees responsibility in her role as the custodian of the Everyman panto.
“I always remain true to the story but I am not into frightening children. It is their first theatre experience, we want them to enjoy it.”
With that in mind, this year’s wolf will not be eating granny and previously the giant in Jack and the beanstalk was a vegetarian.
So 30 years on, what’s her secret?
“Trust your team. You don’t have to have all the answers but you have to have the right people around you who do.”
Catherine is hopeful that panto will continue to thrive and is seeing the home-grown talent coming up through the ranks. The scripts might need a little updating from time to time but the fairytales still pull in the crowds.
Joe Conlan started his panto career over 40 years ago, working alongside Maureen Potter.
This year, he will take to the stage again as Nanny Ninny Noonah in this year’s production, .
Joe says that his panto career is only possible because he is “standing on the shoulders of giants”, crediting those who went before, inspired him, and so many others with their performances.
Joe grew up in Dublin city and used to walk to The Gaiety as a young boy to watch performances of the panto from the gods (upper balcony, and traditionally cheaper seats).
He remembers being “spellbound by the colour, the spectacle, the live music”, he was hooked. He didn’t want to do anything else but get onto that stage.
Decades later, Joe still feels the same way. He calls it a dream come true but with long runs, two shows a day, eight costume changes this year for Nanny Ninny, it is hard work too.
He maintains a strict diet, training and discipline to be show-ready each day.
Joe says that panto continues to appeal because it is a shared experience that “connects us to each other” and credits the director and production team with a show that evolves and adapts to hold the attention of new generations.
Pantomime is the start of so many actors’ lives in Ireland.
Glanmire actress Sarah Greene credits pantomime with giving her a love of acting, after being spellbound by a Cork Opera House production of Cinderella.
It inspired her to begin classes with Catherine Mahon Buckley and soon she took to the stage herself and was involved in panto at the Everyman until she left Cork to train at the Gaiety School of Acting.
Currently promoting the new season of Sharon Horgan’s , she says panto gave her “the acting bug”.
“Panto was part of our Christmas tradition, I wanted to be there every year and even when I was doing my Junior Cert and couldn’t commit to a lead role, I still worked backstage, and on follow-spot that year.”
It taught her the skills required for a career in acting, “discipline, dedication and respect”.
"[Panto] tells the tales we know so well and love so much and exposes us to the shared experience that comes with theatre; the collective energy in the room”.
One of Cork's foremost drama teachers, Shirley's association with panto spans from her teens to her most recent role in 2023 as Maleficent.
Shirley started her stage life in ballet but was lured into the magic of panto at the age of 16, joining the chorus of Cinderella starring Rebecca Storm.
From there she graduated into principle roles until she moved to Australia. But the call reached her even there.
When she returned home for Christmas she took on the role of Jasmine in Aladdin - while pregnant with her first child.
"By the time panto was closing I was five and a half months pregnant.”
Shirley thought her panto days were behind her, but taking on the villain last year ignited a new passion.
“In my last role, I was literally flying on stage. I’m in my 50s and I’m flying across the stage, and asking myself what am I doing?”
She says panto has given her “a gift”.
“It is exhausting, exhilarating but an absolute joy”.
