A dose of laughter

Pantomimes are a very British phenomenon ... men dress up as women, the lead character is usually a man played by a woman and the audience keeps shouting "he's behind you".

GulfWeekly reporter Shilpa Chandran - a panto virgin - pushed aside her shopping trolley for a moment and went to uncover the strange goings-on at the Dilmun Club in Saar and experience at first hand what all the excitement was about... . For a start, I should explain that I was born in Bahrain to Indian parents and had led a fairly sheltered life apart from whizzing around supermarket shelves on a weekly basis which has equipped me with nerves of steel.

However, I had not expected to be greeted by a tall software professional by the poolside of a popular expat club dressed up in a long pink and blue velvet gown with a rather large pair of fake breasts.

Married and middle-aged Gavin Baldwin is the director of the Dilmun Amateaur Dramatics Society's forthcoming presentation of Dick Whittington.

"My wife is getting used to it - I dressed up like a dame last year, in fact I was the evil queen in Snow White.

"It's an escape from my normal dull routine - we have tried to make this year's show as likely as possible with lots of music and lots of slapstick."

For airport catering executive Andrew Dove donning theatrical frills is second nature nowadays. He admitted: "This is my 12th year - it's a traditional festive time treat - there's something for everyone, especially the children."

Banker Dave Littlejohn, who was making his first ever appearance on stage playing the role of a pussycat, said: "I'm Felix the cat - it's odd being without a pinstriped suit but at least this cat has stripy fur!"

It was time to start booing and hissing as Phil Hunter, the assistant head teacher at St Christopher's School, came into view.

He is playing arch villain and nasty Lord who happens to be married to stunning Simone, a teacher at the junior school, who has been cast in the title role of Dick.

"The students who will be coming to watch will no doubt enjoy a few laughs!"

The cast is made up of 20 club members whose off-stage professions range from geologists to physiotherapists.

Back to director Gavin, who will be playing Devina Devine, the game show hostess in this contemporary version of the children's classic, which I checked on Google features a young man who sets out to London to make his fortune accompanied by his cat.

Our hero, however, will be sure to meet lots of folk from Dilmunland and Awali in a crazy battle of the bands as I watched in awe at rehearsals. Will the villains capture the cat, will Dick be able to make the right decisions and will the Riffa Rollers win the game?

I don't want to spoil the fun for those with tickets for tonight's performance - the show runs tomorrow and the evening after - but all I can say is that there are lots of in-jokes, adlibbing (for those who can't remember their lines!) and hilarious fun and frolics on stage.

Make sure someone shows the photos round the office!