Theatre Royal Winchester Announces FOUR DAMES IN SEARCH OF A PANTO

Theatre Royal Winchester has today announced that the show will go on this Christmas after all with a panto-styled show called Four Dames in Search of a Panto

Deryck Newland, Chief Executive of Play to the Crowd the charity that runs Theatre Royal Winchester comments 'We know how important our pantomime is to so many families in Winchester and beyond. After we made the heartbreaking decision to postpone Aladdin until next year we promised we would do our best to put something on in its place. We are delighted that the same creative team behind our hugely successful pantomimes will be returning with Four Dames in Search of a Panto, with 4 familiar faces to our panto audiences in the cast!'

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.

James Barry, comments 'Our brief for this Christmas was to make the show feel as close as possible to our usual pantomime style, not only by bringing back our favourite cast regulars, but by also ensuring that all the ingredients our audiences know and love are in there. The show will feature panto set pieces, hilarious gags (plus some very corny ones too!), original songs and lots, lots more - all guaranteed to fill everyone, young and old, with some much needed Christmas cheer.'

Winchester's favourite Dame, Julian Eardley, will be returning as one of the four Dames - his 11th Christmas in Winchester! The casting of the other 3 Dames will be announced shortly.

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.

Four Dames in Search of a Panto will run from Saturday 5 December 2020 - Sunday 03 January 2021. Tickets are on sale now. There are relaxed; British Sign Language; and audio described shows also scheduled. The theatre has also announced that it will be live screening a number of the performances as well, which can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home.

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