EDITH Evans, that grand theatrical dame who took over-acting to a fine art, once became so exasperated with a ‘method’ actor, who in rehearsal was moving and doing things continually during a scene, that she exploded – and, fixing the young man with a beady eye, announced in stertorous tones to one and all: “Young…
CHRISTMAS isn’t a time when we want to think about politics and pinched purses, but if you live in the Yeovil catchment and one of your favourite festive treats has been a visit to the Octagon pantomime (moved last year to Westlands), you won’t have missed the fact that the Arts Council part funded plans…
CINDERELLA is the most popular of pantomimes, but this season the only professional production in the south west is at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre, where Le Navet Bete (that’s Daft Turnip in translation) has taken the story and shaken it up a bit, to the delight of children, parents, grandparents and other panto lovers. The three…
ONE of the most popular fairy tale pantomimes is the 2024 choice at Salisbury Playhouse, where Lottie Mae O’Kill plays the title role in Sleeping Beauty, running from 4th December to 12th January. Ryan McBryde returns to Salisbury Playhouse to direct the show, once again written by Plested, Brown and Wilsher, with Claudia Kariuki as…
THE members of MADS, aka Mere Amateur Dramatic Society, and their audiences, will be paying tribute to the memory to Eric Kincaid when they perform Alice in Blunderland at the Lecture Hall from 28th to 30th November. They have chosen Eric’s own pantomime, written with his friend Chris Wood and first performed in 2007. Eric,…
NOVEMBER is here and the pantomime season is approaching fast. Theatres and arts centres around the country have announced their shows and their stars, hoping to ensure the bums-on-seats that ensure their financial viability for the rest of the year. Pantomime is a peculiarly British institution, rich in tradition and full of expectation for younger…
EMMA Norman’s introduction to live theatre was pantomime in her home town, at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre. The magic and colour of that show caught her imagination. “It made me want to do this,” said this year’s Wicked Queen in Bath Theatre Royal’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. “It is the catalyst for so many…
THIS year’s Bath pantomime will be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, once again written by panto star and writer Jon Monie, who will co-star with the theatre’s much-loved Dame, Nick Wilton, with children’s television presenter Olivia Birchenough as Snow White. The panto will run from Thursday 12th December to Sunday 12th January. When the…