Snow White and the Several Dwarves: A Christmas Panto at Donald L. Oat Theater

In Great Britain there is a 200-year-plus theatrical tradition of fairytale farce for both adults and children, with broad characters, jokes, local references, audience participation, songs and more. it’s the “panto ,” short for Pantomime. Every holiday season in Great Britain, theatres great and small mount the annual panto. It offers such a joyous family experience that the Donald L. Oat Theater of the Norwich, CT Arts Council was sure Connecticut audiences would be similarly charmed. Last year’s “Cinderella at the Christmas Ball: A Panto,” locally collaboratively written for the Southeastern Connecticut audience, was such a hit we are doing it again.
We believe this year will be better than ever. Again, it is locally written and we have included additional traditional Panto elements to give our audience an even more authentic experience. There is NO fourth wall, so there is lots of audience interaction. We have included local folklore. We have the traditional “Panto dame,” played by a man. We have a two-person horse. We have written original lyrics for songs. We have a sensational cast. We will again have beautiful sets painted by a known mural artist. We are offering VERY family-friendly ticket prices in keeping with the spirit of the season.
Don’t take our word for it. Take George Bernard Shaw’s: “A child who has never seen a Pantomime, or an adult who has never seen a play, is a public danger.” Come and enjoy a truly different and original holiday entertainment!