BWW Interviews: Johnny McKnight on THE SNAW QUEEN

BWW speaks to Johnny McKnight about writing and starring in new pantomime The Snaw Queen at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.

What can you tell us about The Snaw Queen?

Well, The Snaw Queen is very loosely based on The Snow Queen. It's set in Santa's workshop and the magic mirror that makes your heart go cold ends up in the toy workshop. One of Santa's trusted helpers smashes it by accident and transforms into the Snow Queen, which means Christmas is gone forever. So then they have to go on a journey to save Christmas and bring Christmas back to the panto.

And you're playing the Dame?

Well, the thing about the show is that we have two dames this year. Darren Brownlie is much more... Well, I'm Slaggy Mess, whereas he is RuPaul.

...that's not your actual character name, is it?

No! I'm Lady Santa this time. Kristine Kringle. But that's how my dame is, she's more of a wreck, whereas Darren's is more of a RuPaul. I think this is Darren's ninth year at the Tron now.

What sets it apart from other pantos in Glasgow?

I suppose that it's closer to an original musical. It's all original music, but there's a bit of Mariah at the end because you can't have Christmas without a bit of "All I Want For Christmas"! And that's been like my good luck charm, I've had that in every panto I've done, so I need to have it in every show. I think as well, it's an actors' panto. Everybody who is a performer is there because of their talent and not because they're off the telly.

Ooh. Bitchy.

Aye! It's true though! I remember one year there was a headline star who was an actual dug. It was a dug that won Britain's Got Talent. I mean, nothing against it, the dug was amazing. Or the likes of Kim and Aggie. People pay a lot of money to go to the theatre and we've got to the stage where Kim and Aggie were two cleaners - and I love that programme, I was obsessed with it, but I don't really like that as a culture.

So really, what sets it apart it that it really is an actors' panto. It's for everybody, but it's not commercial based. It's not got the pop songs in it, so you need to approach it from a different starting point. I like to think it's a wee bit more post-modern - you can kind of push the boat out a bit.

What's in it for adults?

Me.

Me as a lady.

I think a good panto should be for adults as much as kids. As long as you tell a good story and you can have a combination of cracker jokes and punchlines, then it can be for everybody. I kind of hate that thing where people think panto is just for kids. If it's good it's good - it doesn't matter what age you are.

I think that's part of the challenge for the school shows. You get a lot of primary and secondary schools, so it's quite a good training ground for how you need to pitch it, because there's a big difference between what someone in primary two will like and what someone in fourth year who is maybe a bit too cool for school would want.

It's definitely high on the camp factor this year.

You're writing at the MacRobert theatre in Stirling as well this year, aren't you?

What I've done the last few years is sort of alternated between the two. I never wrote last year's panto at the Tron, but I wrote the three before that. One year I was at the McBob while Kenny Miller was directing here and this year Julie Ellen is directing there and I've written it. It's Weans In The Wood and it's brand new. So both these pantos this year are brand new.

Have you had any onstage panto disasters?

Constantly, but that's the joy of it. Two years ago we had loads of audience participation, for Miracle we brought up three audience members to be the jury for the whole of Act Two and two of the guys started getting off with each other. They'd never met each other before and it was hilarious.

I've forgotten my words loads, other actors have forgotten their words, wrong songs getting played in the wrong places... But I kind of think that's the joy of panto - you let the audience in it on. As long as they know what the joke or disaster is they're totally happy to go with you.

Once at the McBob, we brought someone onstage for a kitchen scene and obviously they didn't know this but I had labyrinthitis at the time. They picked me up, threw me over the counter top and started kissing me. It was all in jest, but then I couldn't get back up because my inner ear balance was all to pot, so I had to crawl about the floor and I think the audience thought I was kidding.

Do you have any special memories of going to the panto yourself?

Only of being terrified.

It's weird because I think the thing is to pick on the audience, that's my favourite thing to do now and as a kid that's what terrified me.

It was Ayr Gaiety with Johnny Beattie. I remember him coming into the audience and I was just terrified. So I don't know if its some sort of psychological thing because now I want to inflict it on other people.

What's next for you after panto?

I've actually got another couple of pantos for next year, they're due in in March. I've got a National Theatre of Scotland commission and I've got a couple of episodes of River City as well, I've started writing for them this year. I think that's my first four months, that I need to get my head around.

I'm just doing that thing where I'm thinking about one thing at one time. Especially this week, because it's a new musical and I'm not musical theatre. The rest of the cast have trained in musical theatre so they pick it up really quickly, whereas I'm like the old cat at the back.

The good thing about here is that a lot of the big pantos have ten days to rehearse, whereas we get a few weeks, so you've got time to play about and rewrite. Then rewrite again. Then realise that you're overwriting and everybody's having a breakdown and you need to keep it as it is.

The Snaw Queen beings previews on 29 November and runs until 7 January, 2017 at the Tron Theatre.

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