RIGHT now, theatres up and down the country are being transformed into Pantoland, a form so successful it brings in more than £60m a year and as the The Stage magazine points out, “keeps the nation’s theatres afloat.”

But should there be warning posters outside declaring “What your son is about to watch could see them turn into Jim Davidson.” Or perhaps “Your daughter may leave this auditorium with dreams of becoming a Fairy Princess.” Has panto moved with the politically correct times?

This week, Coronation Street’s savant Roy Cropper (played by David Neilson) dryly questioned Jack and the Beanstalk and the impact on the growing little mind, reminding that Jack is, to all intents and purposes, a serial burglar and a vigilante.

In recent months we’ve had Keira Knightley decry Cinderella as a man-dependent simpleton and Frozen star Kirstin Bell declare it “weird” that the Prince kisses Snow White without permission.

Has panto factored in this sort of complaint? Oh yes it has! If panto scripts are framed properly we leave with the understanding cave burglar Aladdin and poultry thief /giant killer Jack are simply responding to the socio-economic disparities of the modern age, underling the fact free range oligarchs are bleeding the life out of communities such as London.

The feminist movement of course is divided on the Cinderella issue; is she a kitchen-scrubber victim of the patriarchy desperate to be rescued by a rich man - or a clever wee grafter who happens to recognise opportunity? But panto has a handle on this division. As such, it will be hard to find a Cinderella being staged anywhere in Scotland this year who isn’t hard working and feisty, has something of the Meghan Markles about her. Scottish panto writers will understand implicitly that this is a story about escape from bullying and control; if Sartre had seen a King’s Edinburgh production of Cinderella he’d surely have written that Hell is watching your younger, prettier sister marry into money.

And while panto was once decried for it’s cross dressing ridiculousness, (most dramatic actors wouldn’t touch it) the likes of Grayson Perry argue that panto is now at the forefront of the battle for gender fluidity. The Principal Boy tradition, (remember Anita Harris in thigh-length boots) which evaporated in the Eighties, was in fact a great example of non-binary sexual representation - and a little cultural subversion to boot. More recently, Scotland has rejoiced in Johnny McKnight’s (Tron Theatre) Santa in drag, and several same-sex panto love affairs.

Let’s not hear the silly argument that Ugly Sisters are misogynistic. Panto dames are funniest when it’s entirely apparent they are self-aware blokes in frocks. Danny La Rues they are certainly not trying to be.

Yes, panto hasn’t always looked after women. Playwright Ella Hickson claimed “We have binary narratives for women and that’s troublesome. You’re either a slightly mindless, sunny-faced princess, or you’re a slutty, evil witch.”

But this is changing. For example, at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow, Aladdin’s Emperor has become an Empress. In recent times, we’ve seen Peter Pan’s Wendy move from being a sock darner to a “ball buster.” In Dundee’s Gardyne Theatre this year audiences will see the Prince kneel before Snow White, who expects the proposal but declares (words to the effect) “Hang on Princey! I don’t need a man to validate me by proposing marriage.”

Yes, panto has been racially insensitive; too many Scottish Genies have covered their blue-white skin in Fake Bake to pass themselves off as Middle Eastern. No longer. (See Scots-Chinese actress Frankie McCann play Princess Jasmine. And in one Scots production last year, Cinderella was played by a black actress.)

In fact, panto has sometimes become a little about box ticking, resulting in slower box office. Sometimes, audiences don’t wish to see the Genie in a boiler suit and having him (played by a her) proceed to rap. “A worried bid to be cool for kids,” said a Herald reviewer of one production.

But George Bernard Shaw, was wrong in 1897 when he declared panto to be heading into a void. It has adjusted, whereby the best pantos recognise you need to stick to the storyline, while weaving in the traditional and the modern, a mix of magic carpets, fairy tale castles sticky out frocks (worn by men and women) and a little bit of socio-economic topicality. The days of Ken Dodd doing half an hour of homophobic gags or Les Dawson squeezing the Principal Boy’s bum are long gone.

Let’s remember the point of panto. It’s not about allowing someone once of River City to make a dent in their mortgage, or about parents’ virtue signalling, or giving theatres a chance to pay for the Spring season to come.

Okay, it is all of those things. But it’s more. It’s a world in which children and adults can laugh together and separately. And if it moves towards a wedding is that a bad thing? So long as the scripts are as tight as an Ugly Sister’s bustier, you’ll have a night out that lasts a year.