영국 국립극장의 코로나19 대응 연구 - 판토 <딕 휘팅턴>을 중심으로 -

초록

Following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic and two lockdowns in March and November 2020, the UK government shut down most of its public facilities due to intensive preventive measures, and all theatre buildings suspended operations from March 16. Even after the end of the first lockdown, most theater companies gave up producing their 2020 shows due to financial difficulties and the severe safety protocols required for theater operations. Despite the unstable situation, the Royal National Theatre produced two shows—Death of England: Delroy and Dick Whittington—in the year’s second half to fulfill its role as a public theatre. This paper aims to examine the Royal National Theatre’s management in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by analyzing its panto production of Dick Whittington. The paper first examines a significant feature of British pantomime: its flexibility in actively adopting current issues and trends. Then, it investigates what motivated the Royal National Theatre to produce Dick Whittington on behalf of numberless local theatres, which could not run their annual Christmas pantos. Based on these analyses, the paper investigates how Dick Whittington reinterprets the 2020 pandemic situationin London and the changed lives of Londoners within panto’s traditional context and humor; it does so by examining Dick Whittington’s adaptation, direction, and performance. It also points out that Dick Whittington’s online streaming created an audience expansion unparalleled in panto history and showed the genre’s hybridity. Accordingly, this paper proves that the Royal National Theatre’s Dick Whittington was a timely panto to infuse the harsh changes to everyday life due to COVID-19 with traditional theatre experiences. Through this study, the paper invites further analysis of the panto’s contemporary value and its efficient mirroring of the dominant spirit of the present.

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