Shout out for evil geniuses, princesses and genies
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Newtonmore and Badenoch Drama Club will be treading the boards again when they revive their traditional village panto after a hiatus of six years.
The group of friendly villagers who share a passion for creating light-hearted entertainment have made an appeal to their community for help in reviving the pantomime.
The group has not been able to put on a show due to a lack of cast and crew numbers since their last outing in 2017.
To try and remedy this they held an open night recently to recruit new members.
Catherine Vis-Christie, group chair and an avid performer herself, commented: “The Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to our pantos for some of the years and led to a decline in members. We have been waiting for an opportunity to build the group back up.
The pantomime will be under the reins of a new director Lorna Cottam.
There is a lot of work that goes into the production and the group are not just looking for people to perform but also for help behind the scenes for the three proposed performances this Christmas-time.
Ms Vis-Christie said: “We need people willing to give it a go whether they want to be on stage or behind the scenes.
“We need people to help create backdrops, design and make costumes, work the sound desk and set up music.
“We need dames and baddies, princesses and princes, evil henchmen and what’s a panto without someone in an animal costume?”
The drama club currently meets weekly on a Monday evening in Newtonmore Village Hall.
Optimism is high that the show will go on after an encouraging attendance at the open night. Ms Vis-Christie said: “I was delighted with the turnout. It is the best we’ve had for years!
“It was filled with lots of laughs and good energy to kick-start rehearsals for the 2023 panto.”
As for this year’s production – all is yet to reveal which panto will be performed.
The drama club welcomes anyone willing to get involved to come along to their Monday night sessions.
