Episode 104 - A Focus on Puss In Boots

This week Simon Sladen and Robert Marsden join Martin to discuss the panto Puss in Boots.One of the rarest pantomimes to be performed in recent times the panto is usually based on the Perrault version of the story from 1697. It is a typical rags to riches tale with baddies, fairies, skin characters, a panto dame, principal boy and a love story. It has a fascinating history and was central in cementing the tradition of the female principal boy with Eliza Povey playing the role in 1823 in Covent Garden and Simon and Robert discuss this history along with some of the problematic themes and morality within the story.