Sinbad the sailor

We very much enjoyed taking Alex and Ellen to see the pantomime Sinbad the sailor at Whitby. This was by the Whitby amateur players and was in a very traditional style. It was a refreshing change from the hackneyed plots of Cinderella and the like. I very much approve of the old fashioned principal boy as a girl and a man playing the comic dame.  The plot had two villains Evilina the bad witch and the Old Man of the Sea. Evilina appeared throughout to be a satisfactory target for hissing and booing. The Old Man of the Sea featured in an underwater scene and provided the” behind you” scene. There was a lot of play on Sinbad’s name with Tinbad the tailor as one of the comic characters and Ginbad the gaoler and Winbad the whaler making appearances.

They had a very imaginative underwater scene where ultraviolet light was used to illuminate giant fish and ship wrecks while keeping the manipulators invisible. This was used for the joke of a shark swallowing a frog and emitting a loud burp. The frog looked an awful lot like Kermit and led the shark on a merry chase.

There were all the usual local references which largely went over our head. However it was obvious that local rivalry with Scarborough featured. The one unusual item of audience participation was in “What shall we do with the drunken sailor” when on the chorus “Hooray and up she rises” we were encouraged to fling our arms up in the air. We had excellent balcony seats and it was amusing to look down on the stalls. Our seats were rather odd being on the wings of the balcony where a box might be situated in another theatre. Ellen really amused herself looking down on the stalls and the orchestra pit. I say orchestra but there were three, piano, drums and guitar.

The pantomime was staged at Whitby Pavilion. This is an old style cinema and theatre combined  with a large new wing with two giant exhibition or event rooms. The pavilion has a unique situation being at the bottom of the cliff by the edge of the sea. To drive past on West Cliff the Pavilion is almost invisible with only glimpses of the roof. There is a vehicle approach which loops down and also a pedestrian approach by steps and footpath. Because of the slope of the ground the new portion is at two levels perhaps a smaller third level above. Between the theatre and the new exhibition halls is snack bar. We sometimes visit to sit and watch the waves.

The exhibition halls have a very wide variety of events. The forthcoming Steampunk weekend will exhibit probably in both. We watched Alex who participated in a local youth event last year. He was playing the trumpet We have been to arts and crafts displays and various other events. In general in Whitby the Pavilion is “where its at”. Having said that we have  found there is another lecture theatre elsewhere while the Whitby museum is also a venue for talks. The problem is that Whitby is generally too small to justify com which commercial cinema but generates  a large tourist audience particularly in the summer season.

Last year we visited the Steampunk exhibition and sales stalls. It was a fascinating view of how some people spend their time. Quite a few took it very seriously having costumes reflecting Steampunk interests. This is a little difficult to define but seems to reflect the Victorian era and the US West of the same time. One common feature are goggles around the hat.

He who beats his sword into a plowshare often ends up plowing for those who kept their swords.