Quick, open the curtains.

 

What happens next?

What’s this scene about?

Will someone keep

those children quiet?

 

What went wrong there?

Who missed their cue?

Doesn’t matter if it goes

tits up, it’s only panto,

 

something to keep out

winter’s chill. Forget

what happened

at the dress rehearsal.

 

The more mistakes

you make, the more the fun.

Dirty jokes, ad-libs a-plenty,

a song and dance or two.

 

We’re missing two pirates.

Has someone seen my

bus conductor’s cap?

You can’t come in,

 

the Dame’s struggling

into her seventh frock.

O yes I can! Too old for

this game, yet still know how

 

to play the fool. What if I

forget my lines, the words

don’t come? If silence falls,

if there’s a pause -

 

say something

 

… anything!