Further Casting Announced For Christmas Show At Theatre Royal Winchester

Play to the Crowd has today announced that Ed Thorpe will be joining Julian Eardley as the second Dame in this year's Theatre Royal Winchester Christmas Show Four Dames in Search of a Panto

This will be Ed's fourth Christmas in Winchester having previously played the title role in last year's Dick Whittington, Wally in Beauty and the Beast and Smee in Peter Pan - for which Ed was nominated in the Great British Pantomime Awards for Best Songsheet Award. Ed will once again showcase his extraordinary comic timing, musical talent and sense of fun on Winchester's stage.

Ed joins 'Dame' Julian Eardley who this year will be celebrating his 11th Christmas in the city. The casting of the other two Dames will be announced shortly.

Four Dames in Search of a Panto will be written and directed by James Barry with original music by Simon Slater. Last year James Barry was nominated for Best Script in the Great British Pantomine Awards for Dick Whittington, and the previous year, together with composer Simon Slater, was nominated for Musical Achievement for Beauty and The Beast.

The show will feature panto set pieces, hilarious gags (plus one or two corny ones!) and original songs.

The show is scheduled to preview from Saturday 5 December 2020 and run until Sunday 3rd January 2021, with a running time of 75 minutes. In addition to watching the show physically in the theatre, the charity will also be live screening a number of performances, which can be enjoyed on your own device from the comfort of your home. There are also Relaxed, British Sign Language and Audio Described performances scheduled.

The theatre has put in several measures to make the venue Covid secure and have been granted use of UK Theatre's See It Safely mark that certifies venues are complying with the latest Government and industry Covid-19 guidelines to ensure the safety of staff and audiences. Measures in place include the removal of every other row of seats in the auditorium and leaving two empty seats in between each 'audience bubble'. Face masks must be worn in the auditorium by everyone over 11 years unless the customer is exempt. Hand sanitizer stations are in place throughout the building, a one-way system is in place and the venue has increased its cleaning routine throughout and regular disinfects the auditorium, foyer and toilet areas.

For more information and to book tickets, visit theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk or email boxoffice@playtothecrowd.co.uk.

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