It may be a few months away, but preparations for pantomime are in full swing at theatres up and down the country.

Panto is as traditional a part of Christmas as turkey and plum pudding: but how many of us know how the bizarre ritual of cross-dressing (with men playing dames and girls playing principal boys) came about and where the slosh, slapstick and superstitions have their roots?

Ian Gledhill's professional stage career is steeped in panto and over recent years he has regularly appeared alongside Julian Clary in Cinderella or Dick Whittington.

He amused his audience with an illustrated potted history of the genre and anecdotes from his own experience. The history of panto is there to discover by surfing the internet or buying a book. It is the personal touch which is so fascinating.

I liked the story of how at one venue Julian Clary was told that Cinderella would be going to the ball not in a traditional coach – too old-fashioned! – but in a helicopter.

Clary argued that little girls in the audience would expect to see a coach with real ponies pulling it and either the helicopter went or he did.

Since he was the star of the panto with his name emblazoned on posters outside the theatre he got his way - coach and ponies were reinstated.

Gledhill, who usually plays Lord Chamberlain in Cinderella and understudies several other roles, treated us to some photos of when he went on as an Ugly Sister (Hernia) complete with outrageously elaborate costumes (make-up courtesy of Mr Clary) and the inside info on how tricky they are to get into and actually perform in.

Everyone knows that the actors' good luck saying is "break a leg". Well, Julian Clary did that very thing during one panto and Gledhill was beside himself with anxiety as he was understudy.

Happily for the terrified Gledhill the run continued with Clary in a wheelchair.

I adore insider snippets like this and the only disappointment of this talk was that we didn't get the chance to ask questions, which I feel would have rounded off the event nicely.

Diana Eccleston

3 stars