Two new faces in cast of Wargrave Theatre’s panto

WARGRAVE Theatre’s production of The Snow Queen has some added extras to give it a pantomime feel.

Linda Daman, who is co-directing with Emmajane Hughes, says: “This year’s pantomime is set in Scandinavia and the Frozen North and is written by Alan P Frayn, based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

“The extra characters are Gran, who is the pantomime dame, and Snowdrop, who is the fairy.

“Our own Hans Christian — Conor Black — tells the tale. As he is composing the story, he mingles with his creations.

“Conor is a new face in our cast this year and he is not the only one — Snowdrop is played by Fiona Harvey, who is a new actress to us and trying her hand at pantomime.

“Andy Simmons plays the likeable but daft Simple Simon character, Andy Luckwell is an evil troll and Liz Wyld is a very energetic chorus member.”

There are some children’s roles too. Linda says: “The Snow Queen’s followers are all trolls and for each performance, five of our juniors will be joining us on stage as village children and trolls. We’re likening them to the trolls in the current movie Trolls Band Together and they do a bit of hip-hop.

“We’ve also got hippies, flowers, robbers and a very big raven. Those are the journeys that the characters go through in order and they end up in Lapland, so there are some ‘Lap ladies’ as well before they get to the Ice Palace.”

The lighting design is by Simon Calverley and the costumes by Judi Rowlands.

With a cast of 26 and a small stage, Linda says the show is “a little bit of a challenge”.

The cast includes Graham Wheal (Gran), Rachael Wood (Gerda), Sara Beazley (Kai), Andy Simmons (Helmut), Conor Black (Hans Christian), Grace Tye (the Snow Queen), Fiona Harvey (Snowdrop), Julia Tabrah (Blossom), Ian Bacon (Henrik), Mike Watt (Caw), Freddie Meader (Ziggy), Tanya Jessop (Sunbeam), Josie Daman (Frederika), Pete Charles (Rufus), Celia Reinbolt (Old Lap Lady), Clive Dow (Konrad and Precious), Tori Dunne (Olaf), Graham Howe (Robber Chief), and Lloyd Scrivener and Andy Luckwell (Troll 1 and Troll 2).

The chorus members are Alex Schatunowski, Cath Evans, Anne Pearce, Paula Watt, Jennie Hayward and Liz Wyld.

• Wargrave Theatre’s production of The Snow Queen is at Woodclyffe Hall in High Street, Wargrave, from Wednesday to Sunday, January 24 to 28. For tickets, visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/wargrave
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