The pantomime season is upon us and depending on where you stand, its Saturnalian zest is either just what the doctor ordered or rather like a big, bad wolf – to be avoided at all costs.

People tend either to love or to hate panto. But decidedly in the former camp is a City commercial litigation lawyer who, for a few days of the year, does not look very lawyerly, or very City, at all.

Jake McQuitty, a 34-year-old former barrister and member of Lovells’ commercial litigation team will shortly appear at Hammersmith Town Hall in Goldilocks and her Big Top. As the title suggests, this is panto, but not quite as well know it.

“We take a traditional pantomime story and give it a twist,” explains McQuitty, who has been putting on panto shows every December for the last 10 years.

Together with university friends Rupert Bean and Gavin MacKay, McQuitty runs Backend Productions Ltd, a production company the trio set up in 1998 with a unique mission statement: “to bring a funky new style of themed and musically diverse panto to new audiences in London.”

McQuitty met his co-stars at St Andrews University, where he read History. Bean and MacKay were scions of the St Andrews pantomime scene and after completing a conversion course at York College of Law, McQuitty joined forces with his old friends.

The choice of name for their company comes, McQuitty says, “from that most sought after role in the panto - the fragrant end of the horse.”

But as well as being a fantastic pastime, panto has shaped McQuitty's life in other ways. It was through panto that he met his wife, Fiona, and, as he explains, Backend Productions also has a serious purpose. “We have two main aims,” says McQuitty, who completed a pupilage at 13 King’s Bench Walk before qualifying as a solicitor with Lovells in 2002. “The first is to raise money for a number of charities, and the second is to involve the local community as much as possible.” In its 10 year existence, Backend Productions has raised nearly £200,000 for a diverse selection of charities. By using an array of volunteers from its South West London base it has also ensured that members of the local community have been actively involved in all productions.

The shows themselves are never less than eclectic. “Past productions include Jack and the Bondstalk, Babes in the Hood and Aladdin on the Jolly Roger,” says McQuitty, whose passion for music first drew him to panto. This year’s show will see Goldilocks run away from home to join a circus - where she will meet McQuitty, in the traditional circus strongman role - only to find that all is not what it seems.

“She soon uncovers a plot to take over the world with dastardly clowns. With the help of some local lumberjacks (the three Bear brothers), Goldilocks must defeat the evil within the Big Top.”

Does she succeed? McQuitty says he couldn’t possibly comment, but is animated about the appeal of panto. “It’s a year-round commitment – shows typically run for five nights but as soon as we finish one, we’re starting work on the script and music for another, as well as all the admin. It takes up a lot of time but it takes my mind completely off my day job and enables me to focus on it all the better. My mother always advised me to cultivate other pursuits, and she's right – a distraction can be a positive thing.”

What, though, do McQuitty’s colleagues make of his hobby? He admits that he was initially a bit worried about their reaction: “I wondered if they’d think it was inappropriate” – but his fears proved groundless. “The firm has been incredibly supportive and many colleagues either come along to the shows or get involved in helping put them together.”

Panto, McQuitty says, has also had a positive effect on his day job. “Our shows sell out every year and we’re watched by an audience of at least 3,000 people over five days.

Organising productions on such a large scale is analogous to running a business giving me a better perspective on the business side of Lovells, something that I’m keen to develop.”

Jake McQuitty will be appearing in Backend Productions’ performance of Goldilocks and her Big Top at Hammersmith Town Hall from Wednesday 5 December to Saturday 8 December. There is a matinee performance for children on 8 December. For more information, see www.backendproductions.com.

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