How The Kings is taking control of its own panto

Jack Edwards and the team at Southsea’s Kings Theatre have been putting to bed the ghastly disappointment of last year’s panto this Christmas.
Jack & the Beanstalk - pic by Sheila BurnettJack & the Beanstalk - pic by Sheila Burnett
Jack & the Beanstalk - pic by Sheila Burnett

Their 2020 Dick Whittington was cut short in its prime by the latest lockdown, not even reaching Christmas Eve.

The team tried to bring it back this summer, but post-lockdown uncertainties meant it wasn’t worth the risk. Now they are truly moving on with Jack and the Beanstalk for Christmas 2021.

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Like Dick Whittington, it is being produced in-house by the Kings Theatre, until Sunday, January 2 with tickets starting at £18.

Worthing-born Love Island star Amy Hart is joining the cast alongside the returning pantomime cast from last year’s production including Portsmouth-born X Factor finalist and one half of Same Difference, Sean Smith, plus Pompey pantomime favourites James Percy, Julia Worsley, Marlene Little Hill and Peter McCrohon, plus Jack in his usual slot as dame.

As Jack says: “Putting on those last three shows last year was just the saddest thing ever. It was so emotional, and then we thought ‘OK, so let’s bring this back in the summer’ and then we couldn’t because we were coming out of lockdown and we weren’t sure how things were going to be. We had to have the decision to can it or to take it to the wire and in the end we just felt that the financial risks were going to be too much. And so in the end we just thought we would put all our efforts into Jack and the Beanstalk this year.”

It was important to offer a different panto. Jack isn’t sure they would have had the audience for Dick Whittington again. It was important to move on: “We just weren’t sure that the audience would have come with us, that they would have just thought it was the same old poster again.”

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Inevitably, this year’s panto comes at the end of another hugely challenging year: “We basically had to shift two years’ worth of programming into 2022, beginning of 2023, and we have managed to cram everything in, thanks to the promoters and the producers. It was tough, but we have now got a full schedule.”

The venue reopened at the end of August, and the signs are good that people are coming back – though as Jack says people are possibly being a little more “picky” at the moment, plus the fact that the Kings has traditionally always attracted a late-booking audience: “The pantomime is so important to us and for all regional theatres: pantomime is the lifeline of theatres, and that’s why we are making such a song and dance about it, and that’s also why we are producing it in house again this year. A lot of theatres have started doing that. They just can’t afford to give a huge chunk of money away to external producers. With external producers, you cut a deal and they take a big cut of the box office, usually pretty large. They bring the costumes and the sets. We give them the venue for the run and basically they run the panto.” But this year, like last year, the Kings is taking on the task itself, a decision which will give it much greater control of the panto: “And in fact, that’s where we are looking to go as a theatre,” says Jack who is also the Kings’ artistic director. “We have had so many years receiving shows where we have no control, and a lot of producers are asking for hefty guarantees on shows. So sometimes you just think you would be better doing it yourself. It is hard work, but it is the way we are wanting to go, going forward.”