The licence for subversion offered by pantomime has been taken on enthusiastically by playwright Liz Breslin.

Breslin’s Christmas pantomime offering in Wanaka last year, Cindy and the Villanelles, challenged the heteronormative narrative of fairy tales and one audience member was so incensed he made violent online threats to Breslin. That hasn’t deterred her, or Gillian Pugh who directs again this year with flair.  

With Jac (who is resilient) and the Beansprouts Breslin continues to play with gender and sexuality, including the traditional cross-dressing dames and something new: a main protagonist, Jac, who isn’t identified as male or female and is given no personal pronouns throughout the show (“Oh yes Jac can” “Oh no Jac can’t”). 

Wanaka is a smallish place yet fortunate to have a largish pool of talent, including three professional actors who offer their services to ‘Jac’: Jay Simon, malevolent and mouthy as the director in fish-net stockings and black leather shorts (think Edna Mode crossed with Cruella de Vil); Becky Plunkett, the gorgeously ditzy magic fairy (her scene with the tiny pink telephone is a stand-out); and Joel Herbert, the frenetic giant Smulkin (no props required to create his larger-than-life presence).

These three performers lift the energy of the show whenever they are onstage, aided by the consistently believable and likeable Jac (Jennie Salter) and the very appealing Gabriel Schwarz (one of four Schwarzs onstage) as Jac’s mother (no one knows her name, Jac notes).

The cast includes adorable primary-school-aged Beansprouts, roller blading teens and a Chorus with lovely four part harmony, as well as a Health & Safety duo monitoring the show, and an amazing growing beanstalk (“I hope it’s not genetically modified”) which rightly earns its own applause.

Breslin’s cultural and local references hit the mark: Jac’s resilience is due to being bombarded with certificates for thinking, trying, and even getting home safely; Jac’s mother wears Moms Toyle activewear; Hawea hippies sell biodynamic, gluten-free eggs; Jill the cow is “the reason we’ve got global warming”; Hollywood is “pretty short of old white men for some reason at the moment”; the Giant drinks bone broth, his golden goose does the floss; and the beanstalk leads to Queenstown, where the Giant’s lifestyle is about being bigger and better – “big house, big deck” (oo-er).

It’s hilarious much of the time and pretty crazy at others, “parochial and casually racist” – well, briefly, and Jac’s line “This is really weird” earns a resounding “Oh yes it is!” from the audience.

A Stars Wars light sabre battle keeps it “down with the kids” and introduces a plot twist unheard of in the original fable. But there is a happy ending (of course, it’s pantomime), bringing order to the Queenstown Lakes District Council (which also governs Wanaka); the possibility of new wellness retreats; and even speaking parts for aspiring young cast members.

The Christmas pantomime is a recent phenomenon in Wanaka and the Friday night audience is fairly quiet in the first half, but embraces the sheer craziness of the genre in the second.

Just this month UK actor and producer Alan Mehdizadeh defended the importance of pantomime after entertainer Robbie Williams told Sky News he was “proud to have an entertainment career this long” without “having to do panto”.

“The theatre is a place of magic, of learning, of imagination and of escape,” Mehdizadeh said, pointing out it’s also often the first time kids experience the magic of theatre. “Sometimes, the bigger the fairytale and the more unrealistic the surroundings, the more realistic it can be, and the more immersive the experience can be made.”

Breslin’s script and Pugh’s direction are on track to creating that experience this year, with the support of a small but enthusiastic sector of the community. 

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