Katie Bennett and Vicky Edwards are the writers of the specially-commissioned Priory Park Panto Experience which will add a very special extra sparkle to Christmas in Chichester this year.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now we've
00:06got Panto coming to Priory Park in Chichester this Christmas. A small cast, a small short
00:12run Panto, but how exciting and fabulous to speak to half the cast of the Panto here.
00:18Katie, who's going to be Fairy Sparkle, and John, who's going to be Santa. Now, Katie,
00:24Fairy Sparkle, what's she all about? What kind of character is she?
00:27Oh, she is a typical fairy. She is full of magic and, of course, sparkle. She is currently
00:34doing her wahey levels, which is the equivalent to A-levels in the human world. And all she
00:41wants is to be the fairy at the top of the Christmas tree. It is the biggest accolade.
00:46But unfortunately, she is trying very, very hard, but sometimes her spells go wrong. And
00:51she very much is the catalyst for the mischief that happens.
00:55She tries too hard then, does she?
00:56A little bit, a little bit. But she's getting there and she's learning. And you know what?
01:02That's all you want in life, is just to be able to learn and to have a little bit of
01:07sparkle as well.
01:08Absolutely. And she's trying to help Santa. John, you are Santa. Now, that's quite some
01:14responsibility, putting those red robes on. What have you got to do? What have you got
01:19to do to be a good Santa, do you think?
01:22I think you've got to be jolly and you've got to love playing the part of being Santa
01:30Claus because you are bringing joy to the world, to the children. And the children are
01:35so in awe of this man who brings them Christmas presents every single year. So they know they've
01:43got to be good and they know that they must be on the nice list and not the naughty list.
01:49And they all come very well prepared. Most children, although they're slightly nervous
01:56about meeting this mythical figure that they're now going to be face to face with, they have
02:03a list of what they want for Christmas and they've made a drawing and they have put on
02:10a special jumper that's got a picture of Santa Claus or Father Christmas on it. So my job
02:17is to take my time with these children and give them an unforgettable experience.
02:26That sounds fantastic. Now, Katie, the format, let's talk about that. It's a particular type
02:31of pantomime, isn't it? It's just three quarters an hour and so fairly short cast. Is there
02:36an element of having to cram it all in in that short time? What's the approach?
02:40Oh, when we were writing it, we were like, what are we going to put in it? Because there's
02:44so much pantomime content, but you'll have all the ingredients. So let's imagine we've
02:48got a pot, we've got all the good sort of pantomime traditions in there. You're going
02:54to boo for the baddies, you're going to cheer for the goodies. We've obviously got opportunities
02:59for you to say it's behind you and all sorts of things. So it's a 45 minute show with a
03:0515 minute meet and greet at the end. So it's an hour experience because this is a very
03:09new concept for the District Council and at the Guildhall, this historic building.
03:14Well, absolutely.
03:15It's never had pantomime before. And it's been home to trials of the Hortkast gang,
03:22William Blake. Museum's been in there and now pantomime. So it's very, very exciting.
03:29So we're trialling, as we say, with one hour experience to see how it goes and the magic
03:33we can create. And then at the very end, we're really excited.
03:37And hoping to put down a marker in effect that you'll become, I don't know, a Christmas
03:42fixture there.
03:43We would love that. We're so lucky to the CDC for funding us this year and it wouldn't
03:49be possible without them. And we're so grateful that we were able to bring this to the city,
03:55something new, something exciting, something magical for Christmas. And it's an affordable
04:00pantomime as well. So it's the prices for children, they're £7, for adults, they're £9.50.
04:06So we really hope that we're sort of breaking some of those barriers that going to the theatre
04:11sort of has in terms of financially.
04:13And tickets are available from, is it the Novium?
04:17Yeah, so tickets available from the Chichester box office, which is run by the Novium. So
04:21you can pop in to see them or you can go onto their website and click the box office link.
04:25Or if you're around town, you can see our wonderful leaflets and posters.
04:31Shout out the dates.
04:33The dates are the 13th to the 15th of December. And we have on the Friday, we have one show
04:39at 6pm. On the Saturday and Sunday, we have four shows. So you can come, there's lots
04:44of opportunities to come and see us. And the Guild Tour is quite restricted on space. So
04:50please do book early because it might get very, very busy.
04:55You're selling it to me. Perfect. Thank you very much indeed. Really good to speak to
04:59you both. Thank you.
05:01Thank you so much.