Panto season kicks off tonight as St Mary’s Theatre Club takes us back to King Arthur’s Court.
iThe Stormy Knight/i, scripted by veteran writer and performer Maggie Perkovic, is set in legendary Camelot, where mop-headed Sir Roger de Coverley is causing havoc amongst the knights and ladies.
Banished in disgrace and ordered not to return without a good deed under his belt, Sir Roger and his trusty horse Trigger end up in the gloomy village of Hamelin where all the children have been lured away by the evil Pied Piper.
Meanwhile, Camelot is aflutter with the wedding of King Arthur to the beautiful Lady Guinevere, but with Sir Lancelot as her escort and wizard Merlin with a sense of foreboding, it’s anyone’s guess what can happen.
It is the eleventh pantomime written by Maggie Perkovic and she has produced all but the first. “I do like the old tales of Lancelot and Guinevere, it’s such a romantic story,” she says of the inspiration for iThe Stormy Knight/i.
“But you’ve got to make it funny, so I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to see what happened to the children who were taken by the Pied Piper of Hamelin and what if we could bring them all back? That way we can star lots of local children who can also play rats. We have a huge cast this year and the children are some of the best we’ve ever had.”
The action zips between Camelot, Hamelin, a fairy glade and the Piper’s den, whilst the cast is packed with flower fairies, rats, knights, jesters, wizards, inventors and cooks. And with stunning costumes, smoke machines, sing-alongs and slapstick, it promises to be an unmissable show.
Amongst the stars treading the boards this year are Rev Julian Ould as King Arthur, Tony Dingley as the Dame and Graham Walker as the unlikely hero Sir Roger, with strong support from David Corners, Mary Dean, June Nance, Bobby Gray, Louise Shippey, Jim Johnson, Jackie Pritchard, Lesley and Brian Thomas, Rachel Gaulton, Corentyn Smith and lots of others. Congratulations also to a strong backstage team.
Performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm at the Town Hall. Tickets on the door, subject to availability. ?3.00 for adults, ?1.50 for children. Look out for photos next week.