Panto: Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty Flyer

Programme texts:

Additional Material

Performances

February 2 to 5, 2006 in Mappamondo Theatersaal Bern.

The Panto

"Once upon a time ... there was a bunch of students and staff at the English Department of Berne University, infected, as ever, with that fearful disease known as the virus theatricus virulentus, the theatre bug, decided - maybe foolishly - that they all wanted to put on a Panto, that strange English hybrid of a theatrical genre, consisting of fairy tales, comedy, romance, potential tragedy and, of course, cross-dressing, something, in other words that would cheer up an audience and themselves in the dark, cold days of winter. So they got together and ..."

In this way you could have introduced all the Instinctive Acts pantos to date, Cinderella in 1998, Aladdin in 2001 and now this, our most recent foray into fairy-tale madness, Sleeping Beauty. What has characterised all these fairy tale farces is the pleasure and enjoyment that has gone into putting the show together, with student actors untroubled by how silly they might look, prancing around the stage, gaily messing about with the script until the author tears his hair out, and adding slapstick to soppy sentiment and painful punning. OK, OK, there's a lot of hard work too, on the part of the actors, naturally, not to mention the wear and tear on emotions and nerves. Then we must never forget the enormous amount of work that goes on before the production and back-stage by the many people in charge of the set, costumes, make-up, props, sound, lighting, music, etc., etc. One of the most heart-warming features, however, of all the productions in the English Dpeartment is how everyone rallies around and mucks in, supporting each other and generally showing the humanity and warmth that brings out the best in us all. In the end, when things finally come together, somehow and, at times, against all rhyme and reason, everybody realises that this is one of those exciting moments when the curtains rises on a show that, we hope, is as much fun to watch as it was to put on stage.

So welcome to another Panto, welcome to Sleeping Beauty, welcome to the fairy world, welcome to an evening of laughs and relaxation. Enjoy yourselves.

The People

The Cast

The Production Team

Many thanks to Mario Haldemann at the PH for the use of the Theatre Room and lighting equipment at v. Roll.

The Panto Orchestra

Read the next programme item: The Plot