I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
UK theatres are warning that cancellations to pantomime shows, in the wake of Chongvirus Omicron, threaten their finances. No shit, who'd've thunk it? (thinking)
One actor, Matt Slack, urges audiences to not let compulsory Chongmask mandates discourage them from attending panto. But, then he would, wouldn't he? It's not as if he doesn't have a vested interest.
Under new restrictions, audience members will be required to wear a face covering and show a Covid passport. "If you have to wear a mask, wear a mask, but don't let that stop you coming to enjoy our tradition of pantomime," Mr Slack said.
That's easy enough for him to say. Mr Slack is assuming that people enjoy wearing a mask, and are prepared to pay good money to sit for two hours having a facial sauna, when instead they could spend that same time enjoying not suffocating. (mask)
For my part, I'm assuming that the mandate doesn't apply to the actors. Otherwise, the whole pantomime schtick is going to look very untraditional. (pipe)
Even so, panto won't be panto if the audience is masked. So what's the bloody point? (confused)
For anyone unfamilar with pantomime, it relies heavily on audience participation. The I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
, shouted from the stage, is meant to provoke a louder response from the audience, which is likely to be a crap experience if they're all masked.