"People want the belly laughs" - Portsmouth panto legend Jack Edwards gives us his Widow Twankey at the Kings Theatre
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Last year Jack Edwards, Portsmouth’s very own panto legend and dame, celebrated ten pantomimes at Portsmouth’s Kings Theatre.
This year he's back again for more, this time giving us his Widow Twankey in Aladdin at the venue, running from December 5-31.
“It was so lovely last year with all the lovely surprises on opening night. It was such a special night for me and I can't believe that we are doing it again and where the time has gone, that we're starting the cycle again. But it's just something that we've got to keep fresh all the time. You can't just regurgitate the same things and the same scripts. They've all got to be up to date, and then the casting is so important. So much is down to the casting but once you've got the casting you can really start thinking about the script.”
But very much in his favour, Jack has got his longevity in the venue. Someone once likened returning to the venue in a pantomime role year after year as rather like starting a football match three-nil up: “And I would agree with that. I think the audience feels safe when they see a face that they know. It makes a lot of sense. I'm more nervous this year than I was last year. It's very odd. I just can't work out why. But I think that's good for an actor. It doesn't matter who you are and however many times you have done it, you've got to do it properly and you've got to keep it fresh and you've got to get it right.”
Adding to the challenge and the fun is the fact that after several years of co-writing the panto, Jack is actually writing it this year: “We worked very closely with a company called Evolution Productions and I worked with them for many years before I came to The Kings. They always said that they wanted to produce The Kings' pantomime but we decided to do our own and we now produce it in-house but obviously we still needed someone to write the script.
“So what happens is that we get a base script from Evolution which they send us and then for the last five years I've been co-writer, making it our script and now it's just me doing it this year. It's just me putting in all the local references and personalising it all and making it specific for the cast that we've got.”
And indeed for Jack himself – though he insists his job is relatively straightforward: “I've just got to go on there and cause mayhem. That's what the audience expects and that's what they are going to get.”
And it's the audience that helps that, Jack insists: “We were just rehearsing a scene in the rehearsal room and I just ended up saying that I couldn't do it because I've got to have the audience there to bounce off. It was just so dry. That's what the audience does. That's why they are such a big part of pantomime and what happens on stage.”
But obviously, you have to be careful, especially with a pantomime such as Aladdin: “You've got to be so mindful of what you say and where it is set, but actually we have sold more tickets at this point compared to this time last year and I think this is going to be our best-selling year.
“I don't know why that is but people are flocking to come and see the show and I think it's just because people love a traditional panto and they really want the belly laughs and they just want to forget about the world for a while.”