Arts and Culture

East Van Panto Is Back—and It’s Not Just for the Kids

The campy, kooky holiday tradition is back for its 13th year running with 'East Van Panto: West Van Story.'

By Stacey McLachlan /

I’d always considered pantomime to be entertainment designed for children—but the audience at opening night of East Van Panto’s 13th annual holiday show was 95 percent adult. Sure, the sprinkling of kids in the audience were dazzled by the bright lights and musical numbers (and delighted, of course, to boo the villains from the top of their little lungs), but the biggest cheers and laughs at the West Side Story parody were coming from York Theatre’s decidedly grown-up audience.

Boberta (Dawn Betten) explains her latest evil plan at the curling club. Photo: Emily Cooper

Theatre Replacement’s East Van Panto: West Van Story, after all, pulls much of its humour from skewering figures and tropes more familiar to those of us with one wary eye on the real estate market here. The bespectacled (and be-caped) bad guy Boberta Rainy (Dawn Petten) is an outrageously cold-hearted developer exploiting East Van’s authenticity and community for profit, set on appropriating the iconic East Van Cross as a topper for their Sim City Tower (get it?).

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I’m not sure a child could truly appreciate the endless local references and Vancouver-inspired puns that writers Marcus Yousset and Pedro Chamale infused into every scene. Star-crossed lovers Holly and Joes (played by Ivy Charles and Ben Brown, their characters named for Hollyburn Country Club and Joe’s Cafe, respectively) find romance at Kingsgate Mall; the irresistibility of Downlow Chicken sandwiches plays a prominent role in the plot.

Holly (Ivy Charles) and Joes (Ben Brown) play lovers from two different worlds. Photo: Emily Cooper

I’m also not sure how many kids out there are familiar with the plot of WSS or its own infamous inspiration, Romeo and Juliet—but fits of anachronistic Shakespearean speech seemed to tickle us all.

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But here’s the thing: you don’t actually have to know what’s going on at all to have a good time in a packed theatre on a rainy November night.

Whatever your age, whatever your familiarity with the work of Sonheim, it’s a good time on the eastside. Kids are cackling. Adults are happily rolling their eyes at the stupider puns. The countdown to Christmas is on, and though the production isn’t holiday-themed in any way, there’s still a festive feeling in the air that’s infectious for all ages.

Public art comes to life at this year’s Panto: the East Van Cross (Tom Pickett) and the West Van Dollar Sign (Meaghan Chenowsky, who also plays Burn, Holly’s absolute drip of a twin brother). Photo: Emily Cooper

The show is peppy and playful and skips lightly from musical number to musical number to Grandview Lanes dance-battle with ease: whether you’re a kid or an adult, a Shark or a Jet (well, Pet in this rendition), an East Van lifer or a West Van transplant, it’s a modern holiday tradition I was thrilled to learn we can all get behind. Merry Christmas, East Van Panto! Merry Christmas, everyone!

East Van Panto: West Van Story
Now through January 11, 2025
Ticket info here

Stacey McLachlan

Stacey McLachlan

Stacey is the editor-in-chief of Vancouver magazine, and a senior editor for our sister mag, Western Living. She's also the author of Vanmag's monthly Know It All column—if you've got a question or wildly unsubstantiated rumour about our city, she wants to get to the bottom of it: [email protected]