Panto!

Habibi and I have been out past our bedtime tonight, auditioning for the Dubai Drama Group pantomime.

If you've never been to a panto, a great English Christmas tradition, then this is a side of the English character that might surprise you. (Ohhhhhh no it won't! Ohhhhh yes it will!)

As long as you remember that the Principal Boy is always played by a girl, the Dame (often the mother of the principal boy) is always played by a man, that the baddies are always behind you, the jokes are meant to be that corny, and you have to join in to make sure that everyone lives happily ever after..... then you should be ok!

OK?

This year's show is Treasure Island, rudely wrested from the ghostly grip of that natty nautical narrator Robert Louis Stevenson, and triumphantly travestied translated into a splendid stage production for discerning theatre-goers from 6 to 106 by an 'umble hauthor of our hacquaintance. Are we getting a flavour here?

Habibi tried out for a Welsh pirate long marooned on a desert island, and basically completely gaga.
I tried out for the baddie, (Ha Harrrr!) - and will be looking for recognition from the Guinness Book of Records for the most ham acting ever crammed into one paragraph. It was such fun!

We had a great time singing a well-known piratical nursery rhyme and learning a dance routine to a seasonally camp naval pop song. (If you want any more, you'll have to buy a ticket!)

Whether we get the parts or not, the 40 or so of us who went down all had a really good time strutting our stuff and cheering each others' audition pieces. On-stage or in the audience, we're definitely going to the panto this year!