National Theatre’s Dick Whittington: Am I really going to watch a panto in January? Oh yes I am

The NT’s Dick Whittington is streaming  – and no one can force me to participate in group clapping if I’m watching at home
Dickie Beau in Dick Whittington at the National Theatre
The Other Richard

It’s a dark Monday evening, I’m sitting by my laptop and I’m scared. I know, it’s a bad world out there right now, but that’s not what’s worrying me. The reason I’m doing calming breaths is that I’m about to watch a panto. In January. On a computer. Pass the gin.

The National Theatre has put its production of Dick Whittington on its new streaming service for the next six weeks, and I am going to watch it. (Oh yes I am, etc... oh god, kill me now.) Once, watching a panto in January would have felt against the natural order of things, like eating an Easter egg in August, but time no longer has any meaning. Also, enforced group clapping is a traumatic memory I wanted to leave behind in my childhood, but I’m in my flat and I won’t get a death stare from a man called Buttons if I don’t do it.  

The NT heroically managed to capture the production on its last night in front of audiences, after tighter Covid restrictions sent the whole thing up in a puff of glitter – the second time it had a fully rehearsed show cancelled early in its run. Since everything is making me a bit tired and sad, I’ve decided to pour a large drink and stress test whether a show specifically designed to make me feel a bit jolly can lift the clouds.  

After summoning the courage to press play I’m already feeling twenty years too old to be watching it, like some sort of wizened old lady who happens to know how to operate the internet. But it’s not long before I’m hearing a woman covered in pink glitter say “I know that it’s been hard lately but we’ll get through it... we just have to keep on being kind,” and I’m ready to blub into my glass.  

Melanie La Barrie in Dick Whittington
The Other Richard

Cosied up in my duvet, I find that, actually, a panto is the perfect watch for my tired, emotionally fragile state of mind. The plot is very simple to follow – maybe I should watch more things aimed at children – and there are lots of dick jokes (not aimed at children). This is about all my brain can handle right now and, as I watch, I have an odd feeling of being both cheered up and sad for the brilliant cast and crew who didn’t get to perform this show for audiences for as long as they’d hoped. God knows how I am going to cope when the time comes for me to experience big musical numbers and fancy costumes IRL.

I should mention, since this is sort of for them, your kids will love this if you plonk them in front of it. It includes a generous amount of fart jokes and references to Things That Young People Like, eg Billie Eilish. But it also manages to incorporate references to the helterskelter ride of 2020 in a way that’s comforting and reassuring, as well as being performed with the cast observing social distancing measures throughout its running time.

But for me, as a long-time panto sceptic, I felt immensely comforted. I fell in love with Dickie Beau’s pantomime dame – who opens the second act in a glorious breakfast-inspired gown and sings about Covid rules to the tune of Dua Lipa. I loved the socially distanced panto horse. I loved all the speeches about saving London and being proud of our city. No I didn’t clap along, or my boyf would have given me another one of those concerned ‘I think you’ve been inside for too long’ faces. But I did want to stand up and applaud the very long list of people who brought it all together, in the name of cheering us up. It might not have been in exactly the way they’d planned, but they managed to put a smile on my face. 

Dick Whittington is watch on National Theatre At Home until February 22; ntathome.com

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in