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Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Asia Pacific World Search Search: Britain's Christmas pantomimes laugh off credit crunch AFP - 2 hours 15 minutes ago HEREFORD, England (AFP) - - Boo! Hiss! The sneering villains and dimwit fairies of Britain's traditional Christmas pantomimes are having a dig at the financial crisis this year, in a bid to laugh off the economic gloom. Several festive shows have been adapted to reference the financial crisis in the magical, make-believe world of "panto", which whisks families away into a few hours of escapist excitement. The knockabout musical comedy versions of traditional children's fairy tales such as "Cinderella", "Snow White" and "Peter Pan" which take over Britain's theatres in December and January, have been stuffed with gags laughing away the credit crunch. "One thing panto must be is relevant to the politics of the day. We have upped it a bit this year and made it stronger," said Phil Clark, director and co-writer of "Aladdin" at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, southwest England. "In life, if it's a really bad threat, you want to be able to laugh at it. It's a sense of relief," he explained. "The other thing about pantomime is there's got to be a real dialogue between stage and audience, and contemporary politics is good for doing that." "Mother Goose" at the Hackney Empire in east London is stuffed with credit crunch gags and "A Christmas Carol" in Kendal, northwest England, sees miser Scrooge struggling with the economic downturn. The Courtyard theatre in Hereford, western England, has seen ticket sales for hardcore dramas dip, but sales for the pantomime are up on last year. "Jack and the Beanstalk", which has financial crisis jokes woven into the traditional story, is doing an extended run of 72 performances in six weeks at the 1998-built arts centre. The panto sees the evil Baron Wasteland -- a property developer with a dwindling portfolio and facing negative equity -- doubling the rent and threatening to evict lowly hero Jack and his recently-sacked mother Dame Cherry Sponge, the traditional "pantomime dame" man in drag. They are forced to sell their cow Buttercup for a bag of beans -- but Fairy Cake's magic finally works and the giant beanstalk grows. Jack climbs up, rescues Princess Cupcake from Wasteland's clutches and makes peace with the feared giant. Wasteland gets flattened -- "That beanstalk really packed a punch / Worse than any credit crunch" -- Jack marries the princess and the Sponges' financial woes are lifted in the traditional happy ending. "It's about a poor family who are about to be evicted, so the financial crisis seemed to fit with the story, and contrasts with the consumerism mentality of the princess," said the panto's writer Lyndsay Maples, who also plays Fairy Cake. "A lot of pantos are about a poor boy or girl and it comes right in the end," she told AFP. "There's always a good message, normally along the lines of you don't have to be beautiful to be loved or rich to be happy. That's what pantos are all about. "People say, 'stuff the credit crunch, we'll still go to the panto.' It's a beacon in our dark times! You've got to have a bit of fantasy and escape." The 280 Ledbury Primary School children crammed inside the theatre boo the baron, lap up the slapstick and the singalongs, while the adults enjoy the puns and double entendres and credit crunch gags. "It's very topical," said Ledbury head teacher Julie Duckworth. "It will have gone over the kids' heads. But as an adult you do get those jokes. I had a wry smile. "Within schools, we're all aware that we don't want to ask parents for too much money but we're trying to keep traditions like this going," she added. Despite the looming recession, the panto season seems to be holding up well, and not just in Hereford. Qdos, billed as the world's biggest pantomime producer, is predicting a record 1.6 million people will buy tickets to see their 21 shows nationwide, based on advance sales. Playwright Mark Ravenhill believes there is no better forum for "exploring the horrors of the credit crunch" than pantomime, with its rich baddies and downtrodden goodies. "After a few anxious months, families are looking forward to treating themselves to a comforting dollop of spectacle and sentiment to round off the year," he wrote in The Guardian newspaper. "But as an added bonus, I'm sure many of them will find their financial anxieties dealt with in the well-worn plots of the panto stage. "Right now, we're all burning with questions about how we got into the terrible financial state we're in. "Audiences are hungry for plays that investigate those questions." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle 'Canadian Idol' canceled in 2009AP - 47 minutes ago Soulja Boy apologizes for his potty mouthAP - 1 hour 23 minutes ago EU parliament prevents screening of anti-Islam filmAFP - 1 hour 33 minutes ago NKorean dance troupe takes Vietnam stageAFP - 1 hour 37 minutes ago Britain's Christmas pantomimes laugh off credit crunchAFP - 2 hours 15 minutes ago Enlarge Photo This undated file photo shows actors performing in the "Jack and the Beanstalk" at the Courtyard theatre in Hereford, western England. The play, which has financial crisis jokes woven into the traditional story, is doing an extended run of 72 performances in six weeks at the 1998-built arts centre. Most Popular – Entertainment Viewed Bush laughs off Iraq flying shoes drama Arabs hail shoe attack as Bush's farewell gift Actress Jennifer Aniston appears naked in GQ magazine Oil falls after brief surge above 50 dollars Madoff due in court for Wall Street fraud View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular

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