LAST weekend saw the return of panto season at Belfast’s Grand Opera House. This year’s production is Peter Pan and, as with recent shows, will be very ably led by Belfast’s much-loved pantomime dame May McFettridge (whose surname derives from a story reported in The Irish News). This is May’s 34th Grand Opera House panto season supported by regular stalwart Paddy Jenkins (Give My Head Peace, An Irish Goodbye, Blue Lights).
For many families a visit to the panto is a must on their traditional Christmas checklist. It wasn’t for our family – not for any particular reason, it was just something we never did. Of course it can be an expensive addition to the growing list of Christmas social occasions, especially if you factor in work dos, Santa visits and school trips.
However, at primary school we usually had the opportunity to attend some form of Christmas performance. The build up to Christmas is beyond exciting for most children but those special days away from the classroom were just magical - from the novelty of travelling by coach or double-decker bus to the luxurious comfort of the velvet seats and the electrifying atmosphere of the auditorium.
Buzzing with anticipation we prepared ourselves, no doubt carried along on a tide of sugar, to enthusiastically shout out the customary comebacks – ‘Oh no it isn’t’ or ‘he’s behind you’, although following last week’s allegations, hopefully it’s not Gregg Wallace (possibly not coming to a panto near you soon)…
Isn’t that the thing about panto though? It can often be seen, certainly by serious actors and theatre ‘luvvies’, as the domain of the desperate and disgraced. Back in 2002, The Guardian reported that rather than the “polished vaudeville performers” of yesteryear, today’s panto stars were “disgraced politicians, washed-up comedians and leggy soap stars”. I think we can go one step further than that this year as OnlyFans fodder Katie Price and Kerry Katona are starring together in Cinderella at Northwich Memorial Court in Cheshire…
More: From Snow White to Beauty and the Beast: the best pantomimes in Northern Ireland this Christmas
This is certainly not the case for our own May McFettridge, who is a prodigious talent and an absolute master of her craft. We did break our panto embargo one year and saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 2015. It was my Granny’s 70th and she wanted to celebrate her birthday with her family including all her grandchildren (of varying ages). Granny’s birthday is at the Sagittarius-end of November so it was agreed that an early dinner at the Europa followed by the panto would be the perfect night out.
It was a fantastic and memorable evening – the younger children managed to sting their parents for ice cream and flashing LED lights during the interval while the adults were able to relax, enjoy a drink and appreciate the jokes pitched at their level. At one point McFettridge and Co performed a lightning fast and word-perfect rendition of the Pheasant Plucker’s Son – a risky choice at the best of times but not in the hands of the consummate professionals on stage that night and I don’t mean Chico, who was the co-headliner that year.
McFettridge no longer needs a ‘draw’ - she is the draw and can seamlessly tap into our often dark and unique brand of self-deprecating humour whilst maintaining the persona of our favourite mischievous Belfast housewife.
More: Weekend Q&A: John Linehan – ‘Fortwilliam Golf Club makes great Charlie Drakes’
I interviewed the alter-ego of another famous Irish housewife a few weeks ago and Brendan O’Carroll admitted that May McFettridge was certainly an influence on the character of Mrs Brown. Perhaps when Mrs Brown plays her D’Live shows at Belfast’s SSE this month the two of them will get a chance to meet up for a night on the tiles – now that is a show I would pay to see…
