[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Christmas Panto is an Irish institution. Bringing flocks of families, disgruntled or otherwise, to classic cartoon-like narratives peppered with topical references, nudges and winks, they are both a pillar of the theatre season and an unbudging tradition. Having hosted the Christmas panto each year since 1873, this festive season the Gaiety presents Peter Pan directed by Daryn Crosbie. tn2 talked to Sarah Bradley, who plays Tinkerbell, asking her about the quirky sides of her job as well as the madness of being inside one of the largest productions in the country. A Trinity College graduate of Drama and Theatre Studies, Bradley began to voice cartoons when not in class, debuting as a director in her final year with a production of Debris by Dennis Kelly, an interest she will pursue at Bristol Old Vic come April in their Directing MA. All that said, talking to Bradley, who calls from her dressing room on a Sunday afternoon in between previews, one realizes the energy and madness required to pull off The Christmas Panto, and indeed to bring life to the culturally ubiquitous Tinkerbell.

What’s your dressing room like?

It’s full of crap, all my shit, my hair products and beauty-making-stuff.

What’s it like getting ready, hair and makeup-wise, for Tinkerbell?

I have to pin up my hair, put a bald cap on, and then I put on a wig. I have to wax out my normal eyebrows and paint the eyebrows higher so that they become “pixie eyebrows”. She has a ton of glitter and green jewels on her face. It all takes about 45 minutes or more.

Do you feel there’s a difference between acting in “normal” plays and acting in pantos?

It’s more animated, probably a bit more enjoyable actually because it’s less about your own emotions and feelings on stage and more about evoking it from the crowd. It’s really interesting to hear all the kids cheer and boo for you at different times. You get more of a response quicker from the audience — if you’re doing straight acting it’s harder to gauge what the audience are feeling, but if you have 700 kids screaming at your face you kind of get a sense of the general consensus.

Are there disadvantages to the element of play with the audience? Does it ever get disruptive with things like run time?

I suppose they are the final element to the show. What their responses are is just as important as what we’re saying.

Can you tell us about the production process for such a huge show?

The flying is huge! Nine different people in the production fly and there are three different flying tracks. The back of the theatre is a large computerised screen used to make it look like we’re flying over clouds and buildings and stuff like that. It’s a very, very tech-heavy show, it took about four days to get the tech done.

How do you prepare for a stunt like that?

Peter Pan went and trained in London and we got training from FOY who did the flying for the MTV awards. My entrances are seven or eight metres high up in the air and I’m terrified of heights!

Is this very much “theatre of the director” in terms of who your information is coming from, or is everybody involved?

It’s all the director’s vision and then we just add to it. So he’s an absolute genius and has it all worked out to a tee, and then everybody else works their hardest to get it done smoothly.

Was your first interaction with the character of Tinkerbell through the Disney films?

Yeah, and I had the books as well. She’s just a bit sassy and very self-oriented. I liked that, that’s juicy. Better than being the leading lady, like, that just sucks. She’s really bold and really naughty and kind of evil, but then people like her. I feel like she’s hit the nail on the head exactly.

How do you relate the fact that in the 1904 play by JM Barrie Tinkerbell was depicted simply as a light? Is Tinkerbell quite two-dimensional?

I actually think she’s quite a complex character, because she’s so in love with Peter Pan and wants all of his attention. I think because Disney made such her such a great character, people expect her to be in the show and not just a light!

Do you think it’s problematic that she’s a young woman obsessed with a man?

No, she’s just a poor little fairy who’s obsessed with a boy. I think we’ve all been there!

How are you playing Tinkerbell?

There’s a saying: fairies aren’t all bad, they aren’t all good, but they’re so small they can only hold one emotion at a time. She gets over-consumed by this singular emotion she’s feeling and and she doesn’t think about anyone else other than herself and Peter Pan. I play her like a little bold child. She’s clouded by her obsession rather than evil, not really wanting to kill anybody. That helps the panto style as well because she can just focus on the one thing.

What do you think about the panto as a form and prejudices against it? Is it a cash-cow?

I think it’s an under-appreciated cultural form. It’s a derivative of melodrama which was the main form of entertainment in the end of the 19th, early 20th century. That was all about big, spectacular sets. Lots of popular fringe-style theatre has a big link to pantomime because the whole idea of panto is complete engagement with the audience. It’s a narrative and a conversation that occurs between the actors on-stage and the audience. That kind of open dialogue disappeared when realism took over but fringe theatre is trying to regenerate that now.

I think calling it a cash-cow is a harsh criticism because it’s a theatre form that everybody in a family can get something from. Very few genres can achieve that; to be able to entertain a four-year-old and a 94-year-old at the same time is very important in art.

Peter Pan runs at the Gaiety Theatre until January 25. Tickets from €19.50.