Little Red Robin Hood

A Note from Bill

A little mayhem. A lot of heart. And the possibility of a more joyful world.

I was thrilled when People’s Light invited me to imagine the future of its beloved Panto franchise. The project brought together my musical theatre expertise, my clowning background with Cirque du Soleil, and a longstanding fascination with Panto’s unruly form, which began when I assisted Alan Ayckbourn on the U.S. premiere of By Jeeves.

I wanted to create the Panto-iest Panto I could. So I traveled to London to immerse myself in the tradition, drawn to its audacity, irreverence, and enormous heart. At its best, Panto imagines a better world, one in which everyone belongs, everyone is invited to play, and laughter challenges the forces that divide us.

People’s Light hoped to evolve the form in a more culturally thoughtful direction, and I took that charge seriously. Our process rested on three pillars: mindfully creating mayhem, celebrating diversity, and making joy an act of radical welcome.

I also came to the project as a gay man eager to bring more queer joy and style to Philadelphia’s stages. My bridge was the language of Camp. I put its celebratory, anarchic spirit at the center of the room, inviting everyone to play and reminding us all that unabashed joy lives within us, regardless of orientation or background.

Written by Kathryn Petersen and Michael Ogborn, Little Red Robin Hood merged two fairy tales in an inventive adventure: Sherwood Forest collided with the 1940s as young Amelia challenged Lady Nottingham’s stranglehold on a free press and defended a threatened forest, using her voice rather than weapons.

The promise I find in Panto is not that the world is already as it should be, but that we can gather in a theatre, imagine something better, and leave with a little more courage to help make it so. And that, my friends, makes for a very happy holiday!