Every year, the Bristol Hippodrome attracts scores of theatre lovers through its ornate foyer to bask in the glow of one of Britain's most unique traditions - the pantomime. Whilst watching a pantomime is a sure-fire way of getting a few laughs, some audience members are touched differently by the experience, and exit the theatre onto St Augustine's Parade feeling inspired.
They may not ever be the title character, but pantomime dames always ensure that they steal the show, and exude a motherly, yet camp, charm that radiates through the audience (unless, of course, we're talking about the Ugly Stepsisters from Cinderella). And it was this unique form of magic that captivated Mama G from a young age.
Britain's Got Talent viewers may recall a first for the show which happened just the other week, when Thornbury pantomime dame Mama G took the London Palladium by storm alongside seven other wacky and incredible pantomime dames. Not only is seeing a group of dames perform together really quite unusual, but Dame Nation's performance was the first time that the British artform of pantomime had been brought to the BGT stage in the 15 year history of the talent show.
And not only did the audience leap to their feet as the dames began belting out a dame-ified rendition of 'It's Raining Men', but the group managed to win the hearts of the judges, three of which gave them a standing ovation. Although Simon remained seated, he praised the dames' performance as 'fun and very unique', before Dame Nation walked offstage with four yeses.
Speaking to Bristol Live, Mama G, 37, reflected on when she was taken to pantomime performances across the South West, and how one resident Bristol panto dame truly inspired her. She said: "I was taken to see my first pantos in Bath, Bristol and Plymouth - which are the three big theatres I used to go to when I was little.
"The minute I saw the pantomime dame, I knew that was exactly what I had to do. I was just completely transfixed by how glamorous they were, how bright they were, and most importantly how much they make people laugh. I was addicted to the sound of laughter from there."
Audience members may attend pantomimes to see beautiful princesses, watch fairytales unfold, and have a bit of a sing-song, but pantomime dames are often the most memorable aspect of any performance. After seeing the likes of Patsy Palmer, Derek Nimmo, and Irish singer Dana at the 'big, so sparkly and so glorious' Bristol Hippodrome, Mama G was then taken to the Old Vic as a youngster.
She said: "One day, my mum took me to the Old Vic, and we went to see Chris Harris who was the resident dame there for many years. The Old Vic is so different to the Hippodrome because it’s so small and it's so intimate; Chris Harris’ relationship with the audience was so maternal and it was like everyone was his friend.
"When he did the shoutouts, he would go through every single person that had booked, I swear it would take 20 minutes. It just felt like you were being hugged by him and the rest of the cast. The grandeur of the Hippodrome and the intimacy of the Old Vic created the perfect pantomime experience for me, that's what I try to achieve."
Mama G 'knew' she had to be a panto dame from a very young age, and attended the Northavon Youth Theatre Company before heading off to university to study drama. Having performed in pantomimes across the country, Mama G has made plenty of audiences laugh, but she had never experienced anything quite like the atmosphere at the London Palladium.
She said: "BGT is definitely the biggest audience that I’ve had - the pressure of it is immense. I’ve performed in big theatres like that before but never with Simon, Amanda, Alesha and David watching, or with hundreds of top quality film cameras.
"We just had one shot. We had no idea how it was going to go, so it was definitely the scariest performance I’ve done, I think."
The members of Dame Nation vaguely knew each other through various connections, but a Zoom call during the pandemic united the dames to form one glitzy unit. After getting a few more people on board and putting their audition act together, Dame Nation was ready to take on BGT.
Reflecting on the night of their audition, Mama G said: "We had a sense it was going alright because during the performance, when we started singing It’s Raining Men, the audience just leapt to their feet and they were all clapping along. The atmosphere in the room was immense - I’ve never had a feeling like it.
"Then David, Amanda and Alesha all gave us a standing ovation - Simon didn’t. Simon stayed sat down so that made me a bit nervous, but when he started talking to us, he really enjoyed it.
"It almost felt like he was a bit surprised himself that he’d never seen pantomime before on the programme. And that was so nice, because that’s when I realised we’d done the right thing."
After earning themselves four yeses, Dame Nation are heading full-pelt towards the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent, a huge feat considering they are the first ever panto act to perform on the show. Mama G gushed: "To know that there’s even a chance that we might get through to the semi final is so exciting.
"We’ve got our fingers crossed, we’re touching wood for this weekend and hopefully we’ll find out if we’ve been successful. Because I just think that panto deserves to be seen on a bigger platform and to be given the respect and the glory that it deserves, and obviously BGT and the semi-finals and even the final, could you imagine, would be the perfect place for it so I’m really hoping we get to show it off in all its glory.
"It's been amazing to share the stage with other dames because we’re usually all so solitary and especially the two other dames from Bristol. I don’t have a Bristolian accent, as you can probably tell, but Courtney and Nick have the most beautiful, strong Bristolian accents.
"I moved away from Bristol, but the minute I heard them, it was just like being home. It’s the most beautiful accent in the world, so I’m just really excited that gets to be on the stage as well."
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