You can't beat old panto magic

LIKE mince pies and tinsel, Christmas would not be Christmas without a trip to the annual panto – an art form I love. In November, I spent two weeks in pantoland, directing a production of Cinderella for the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh. It is a show that is unashamedly traditional in its approach to the seasonal entertainment. The dame is a man in a frock, the much-loved call outs of "it's behind you" and "oh yes he is" are there, as are the sweetie shower and song sheet.

Of course, the thing about panto is that you either love it or hate it. There's seldom a middle ground. I remember watching the greats such as Stanley Baxter and Ricky Fulton at the King's Theatre as a child and being hooked. It was there that I learned the secret of a good panto was the ability to create a new, exciting retelling of age-old fairy tales while retaining the traditional elements, something many producers now eschew in favour of the Christmas show.

The reasons are many. Everything from political correctness (we can't have a man dressed as a woman) to health and safety (don't throw sweets into the audience, one might hit somebody in the eye) have been used to erode the festive fun. Consequently producers, writers and directors who stick with panto continue to attempt to reinvent the art form with varying degrees of success.

For example, this year at the King's we have Edinburgh's first "circus pantomime" which combines two very distinct forms of entertainment (weaving the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears into a display of juggling and clowning) to produce a hybrid entertainment that speeds along with thrills and excitement and audience participation but no ghost scenes, sweets or song sheet. At the Glasgow King's on the other hand, they continue to commit the cardinal sin of casting a female dame, reducing their "panto" to little more than a Christmas musical with panto elements.

If the challenge then is to put a new spin on the traditional discipline, the task of bringing it all to life on stage falls to the old hands: the panto veterans who have entertained generations. Down south those have included great comedy actors such as the late Peggy Mount and legendary dames like John Inman and in Scotland Ricky Fulton and Walter Carr – literally a dying breed.

Other great dames no longer practising their art include Stanley Baxter, the king (or should that be queen) of Scottish pantomime and Trevor Bannister. Best known as young Mr Lucas in the sitcom Are You Being Served, on stage Bannister wrote, directed and starred in more than 30 consecutive pantos before retiring two years ago, disillusioned by the number of reality TV stars being signed up to boost ticket sales regardless of their expertise as performers. Indeed modern day panto is a peculiar art form as, with its roots in the old variety hall tradition, it can accommodate the most unlikely of performers – how else do you explain the likes of How Clean Is Your House? scrubbers Kim and Aggie topping one bill while X-Factor's Chico can be found on another.

Bizarrely, the latest trend is the introduction of American stars into this peculiarly British entertainment, with everyone from Dallas hero Patrick Duffy and Henry "The Fonz" Winkler jetting in from the sun to spend a chilly winter in the UK doing two shows a day for a month. Although I have to question the motivation of some. Just the other week I nipped down to Sutherland where Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney is making his panto debut at the age of 87. The diminutive star is playing Baron Hardup in a production of Cinderella. Frail, and obviously slower than the rest of the company, there was an element of car crash theatre about his performance which left me wondering why, at his age, he would rather be on stage thousands of miles from home rather than sitting with his feet up by the fire, a warm drink in his hand in his showbiz mansion. His alleged fee (anything from £125,000 to £140,000, depending on which report you believe) could have made a proposition too good to miss, or perhaps the lure of the footlights just remains as strong as ever for the octogenarian. After all old actors never die they just plaster on more and more grease-paint to disguise the lines.

The true panto tradition is continued today by the likes of Allan Stewart in the Edinburgh King's, Christopher Biggins – taking a break this Christmas for the first time in more than two decades after winning I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – and Andy Gray, who after years of playing foil to Stewart's nurse May at the Leven Street theatre has this year wowed audiences at the Barbican in London as a dame himself, in Jack and The Beanstalk.

So what is the attraction of pantomime? For theatres it is the cash cow that keeps them financially stable for the coming year. For kids it is often their introduction to theatre the first time the experience a live performance. And for adults the pantomime is a rare opportunity to relive memories of more innocent times spent with their own parents, albeit that, second time around they understand the innuendo and adult humour that, when done properly, sails over the heads of the youngsters in the audience. Oh yes it does!