The annual Playhouse Panto is a Christmas theatre staple in Oxford, and this year they've pulled out all the stops - sometimes literally! This year's show, Dick Whittington, opens today after a fabulous press run (including a city-wide bus tour), using the story of plucky Dick's (or here, Dot's) unlikely rise to wealth and fame to pay homage to the best of iconic 90s Britpop. We caught up with the team to discuss the vision behind the show.
Daily Information: For the newcomers out there, tell us a little bit about the story of Dick Whittington.
Oxford Playhouse: The folklore of Dick Whittington is really a rags-to-riches tale. While our pantomime has taken from the original story, we’ve added our own unique Playhouse twist!
This Oxenford adventure takes our hero to London Town, where we meet the Cockney spirit that is Fairy Bowbells, sworn to protect the city and its people. Meanwhile, proper crafty Liam Rattagher and his dodgy brother Noel are conjuring up a masterplan to take over the world. They want things to be just how they like them... bland!
Can our hero Dick ‘Dot’ Whittington get rid of all the dull and make Britannia cool again? Maybe, butshe’ll need a bit of help from a magical cat and a gang of unlikely sidekicks.
DI: What sets this pantomime apart from other Dick Whittingtons?
OP: It would not be an Oxford Playhouse pantomime if we weren’t doing something a little bit different.
Though we’ve kept the main elements true to the story, this year,our vibrant band of characters find themselves in 1990s London Town. Dick is now Dot. A reluctant hero, perhaps unlike any Whittington you’ve seen before, she’s been saddled with the name Dick as part of a long-standing family tradition – the first daughter in a long line of Dicks.
She’s not too bothered about wealth or riches. Her story instead centres around achieving her own dreams - something that is shared by many characters in our story. We’ve also reimagined the villain, turning King Rat into a wicked indie pop star, Liam Rattagher, and also thrown in our own battle of the boy bands. It’s a fresh new take on the familiar tale, but no less fun!
DI:The play starts out right here in Oxford and the cast recently took an open top bus tour of Oxford to promote the show; tell us about that experience.
OP: Yes, as you say, Dot’s adventure starts out just around the corner from The Playhouse, over at Gloucester Green Market. There she works as a market trader, until she’s convinced by a fairy - disguised as a cat -to jump aboard the London Express and help defeat the villainous rats of London Town.
So - hilariously - a bus really is key to our story. Paying homage to the most iconic bus ever, the Spice Bus (from cult film, Spice World, of course), we jumped aboard Oxford’s City Sightseeing Bus with some of our own popstarsto do some initial panto promo. Plenty of waving and shouting was done, an odd sight perhaps for bystanders in early October! But since our cast will spend most of their time in Oxford on stage, it was a very efficient way of showing them the rest of our wonderful city!
DI: Your last panto, Sleeping Beauty, was packed with 80s nostalgia; with Dick Whittington, you’re taking us to the 90s. What classic pop culture from the era can we expect?
OP: We have indeed ripped off the shoulder pads this year, and we’re into the glittering world of 90s pop. It was such a dazzling time for British music – Britpop – and the celebrity, so expect a return to a time where Oasis, Take That and the Spice Girls dominated the charts and covers of magazines. We’ve put together our own panto playlist to get you in the mood before we open this week! And it’s not just the music that gestures back to the 90s.There are some incredible costumes, and a nod to TV talent shows, all amalgamated by our cast who bring the spirit of the decade to life.
DI: What’s your advice to someone attending their very first panto?
OP: Have fun! Panto is a unique treat, and we encourage everyone to have a silly old time. There really isn’t anything like it – get up, dance, shout, laugh and boo! Or if you’d rather take it easy and soak up the fun of panto, that’s great too. Audience participation isn’t always for everyone!
DI: In your dream London, what would the streets be paved with?
OP: Oh, I think a tasteful light-up disco tile wouldn’t go amiss. Perhaps one which blasts out a collection of 90s hits like the Vengaboys, Whigfield and the Spice Girls?
Dick Whittington opens at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday 21st Nov and runs until Sunday 4th Jan; get your tickets here.
Image credits: Andrew Walmsley