The Show Must Go On; theatre’s creed for as long as anyone can remember. Actors talk of ‘Doctor Theatre’, the magical energy that, no matter how bad you feel, cures all ills for the time you’re on stage; only for them to return in the dressing room. Cancelling a show is the last thing anyone in the theatre ever wants to do.
This time last year, the curtains had just come down on Wicked Productions’ Beauty and The Beast at the Woodville. As in many other theatres across the UK, this year, the Woodville’s pantomime curtain never really went up.
Opening night for this year’s production, Rapunzel, was scheduled for Friday 11th December. The costumes were made, the stage was set, rehearsals were well underway, and I had my seat booked.
Theatre producers have a very long list of things to worry about; the one thing that hasn’t been on that list, at least since the 1930s, was the Government decreeing that theatres should close.
“As in many other theatres across the UK, this year, the Woodville’s pantomime curtain never really went up.”
COVID Tier-2 or Tier 3
For Rapunzel, it all depended on Gravesend staying out of the Tier-3 Coronavirus restrictions. If Gravesend remained in Tier-2, the theatre could remain open; enter Tier-3, and it had to close. It was as simple as that.
All through November, COVID-19 case numbers continued to rise; you didn’t need to be an expert to know it didn’t look good. On Thursday, 26th November, two weeks and one day before opening night, the Government announced Gravesham, with the rest of Kent, would enter Tier-3. Opening night was cancelled.
Restrictions were reviewed after two weeks on 16th December. If Gravesham could regain its position back into Tier-2, then the show could open for the all-important weeks either side of Christmas. As we now know, that wasn’t to be.
Rapunzel didn’t open for a single public performance. There was a performance, behind closed doors, which is available to stream online until the end of January. I’m sure it would mean a lot to everyone involved if you could watch it.
Of course, a local production of Rapunzel is one of the least consequential casualties of a dreadful pandemic. In comparison to the death and devastation it’s brought across the world, it’s nothing.
But pantomime is the first theatre most children see. It introduces us to a world of make-believe, fantasy and imagination; it gathers us together to laugh, sing and to cry, and I, for one, will be sad not to see it back in 2021.
Let’s be careful out there.
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