Leaning into the inherent campiness of panto, The Pact offers an enjoyable, funny, and inventive take on the canonical theatrical form
Entering the Asylum Chapel, we are immediately thrust into the world of the play. Greeted by one of the nuns at the door, we are cast in the role of the congregation. The venue, a deconsecrated chapel, supports this conception. The chairs are set in the typical fashion of a service, and the nuns busy themselves onstage, performing funny and pedestrian moments from their daily lives. The devil sits in the corner, watching and plotting. The production begins with a hymn, sung by the nuns as part of their choir service. They are all phenomenal vocalists, and the eerie tune echoes throughout the space. Calcifer, i.e. the devil, hilariously portrayed by Heather Woodhouse, directly engages the audience, leading everyone to loudly boo at various intervals throughout the piece, a fun means of keeping us on our toes. The nuns of the congregation, performed by Willow Macdonald, Jacob Louis Baker, Grace Le Bachelet, Maria Rangoni, Morgan Carson, Alice Gold, and Amiot Hills, are all independently suffering. Some feel depressed, a few struggle with their ‘sins’, and others have started questioning their faith. They continue to look to god for guidance, but find their prayers unanswered. Consulting a large and ancient Nuns Handbook, they instead turn to the devil for guidance. They find themselves making a pact with the devil, which will turn their worlds upside down and send them on a genuinely wild adventure that transcends physics in the very best way.
The Pact is a raucous, creative take on the typical pantomime that pokes fun both at the archaic aspects of religious tradition, as well as of pantomimes themselves. It is queer, it is slapstick and thoughtful, and it is brimming with surprises. The cast is incredibly talented and the production was by no measure predictable. One literally cannot envision what happens next.
The Asylum Chapel is a wonderful space and a crucial player in this production, but the incredibly cold temperatures wrought by December put an unfortunate literal and figurative damper on the experience. Nevertheless, the audience bundled up and accepted the uncontrollable nature of the weather, and appreciated the space that formed as much a part of this play as the performance itself.
A pantomime like no other, catching The Pact at the Asylum Chapel is a great way to spend an evening, as long as you wear enough layers.