Oh! What a joyous afternoon of madness and mayhem, with The Pantaloons at Shakespeare North Playhouse.
This performance of Sense and Sensibility came close on the heels of the talk by Dr Michael Greeney about the perils of venturing into the outdoors, for Jane Austen's characters. With The Pantaloons we are introduced to Rain Danger. As the cast reminds us: "remember – rain was different in the Regency period. A few drops could instantly cause illness or injury"! The outdoors is definitely a troublesome place and shouldn't be ventured into without a thorough risk assessment!
The Pantaloons are known for their anarchic retellings of classic works of literature, and they certainly added a healthy dose of madness and mayhem to this production. But, essentially they remained faithful to the original novel, with additions of live music, lots of laughter, some improvisations, mad costume changes and a small amount of audience participation.
It was a magical afternoon, the audience loved ever minute. Another win for Shakespeare North.