Pantos are a funny thing, both literally and figuratively. They’re politically savvy yet patently ridiculous. They’re freewheeling physical theatre mixed with witty cabaret. They’re classic storytelling blended with cutaways for cheeky one-liners.
Thus, it takes a particular talent to be able to write a script that respects the Old World source material (in this case, the woodsy and wolf-y plight of Little Red Riding Hood), yet also adds in ripe, biting humour – for an audience of adults and children, no less – while saving room for the goofball musical numbers, traditional call-and-responses and camp of the panto format.
Which is perhaps why Theatre Replacement, producer of the annual East Van Panto (Nov. 23-Dec. 31 at the York Theatre), calls in the muscle each year to mine for comedy gold in the Brothers Grimm. Last year saw comedian-author Charles Demers reworking Hansel and Gretel to ribald effect. This year we have Mark Chavez, one half of internationally renowned comedy duo the Pajama Men, wielding the pen.
With his nimble narrative comedy sketches, Chavez (alongside Pajama Men partner Shenoah Allen) has graced stages in London’s West End and the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as developed scripts for establishments like HBO, BBC and Film 4. Meanwhile the Albuquerque, New Mexico, export also makes a home locally with award-winning Vancouver improv troupe The Sunday Service for roughly six months of the year.
It’s no wonder Chavez’s name rose to the top for the multi-faceted Panto, which this year stars the likes of Andrew McNee (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Rachel Aberle (Chelsea Hotel).
“It’s just a dream project for a comedian,” says Chavez. “Because on one side it’s an ‘issue show’. We’re actually attacking and looking at real problems and real issues. But on the other side it’s a kid’s family show, so it can be super ridiculous. And so I love the ridiculousness of it, and being able to take a character and go as far as I want [with it],” he laughs. “At the beginning I would be like, ‘Is this too much?’ [...] And usually what I would get back is, ‘You can go further,’ which is always such a great thing to hear.”
To that end, last year’s Panto poked fun at everything from Vancouver’s coffee shop culture to the infamous transit plebiscite of 2015, to the city’s latent hatred of Stephen Harper as the protagonists waltzed through the wilds of Stanley Park.
This time out, Chavez says that petty East Van “problems” will be examined alongside larger regional pressure points like the Downtown Eastside, as Red makes her hero’s journey along the Adanac bike path from Boundary Road to the Woodward’s Building. (Get it? Wood-wards?)
And Chavez notes that he has worked in the occasional global talking point. Despite his American origins, however, don’t expect much time spent on Trump.
“We do tackle it a little bit,” he says, the ‘we’ referring to director Anita Rochon and songwriter Veda Hille, who were all heavily involved in shaping the final product.
“But first of all,” he continues, “Trump was the villain two Pantos ago, and what I said was, ‘He’s just taken over my country; he’s not taking over my panto!’
“I think we’re just exhausted,” he adds, “and I want the audience to come and have a great time and feel like it is a little bit of escapism, and celebrate being in the room with each other.”
Which fits with the model that has made the East Van Panto such a critical and commercial success four years running: it’s a chance to poke fun at the tropes and idiosyncrasies that make East Van tick, while basking in a little bit of holiday cheer.
“That’s the most important thing about the show,” Chavez explains. “It’s a show that can exist only in the holiday season of 2016 in Vancouver – specifically in East Van – and that’s what makes it so great. Like, it’s not a show that we would just take up and re-tweak and throw over to Baltimore, you know? And I think that really makes it very, very special for the audience. They know that they are part of an ephemeral piece of work that they have one chance to see. […] They have a specific time that they can see and be a part of [it], and then it’s gone.”
• East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood runs Nov. 23-Dec. 31 at the York Theatre (639 Commercial). Tickets from $20; TheCultch.com
