The annual Royston pantomime is set to return for the first time since 2020.
It may seem a bit premature to be thinking about next January, but local drama group CADS is already doing just that and planning for the next Royston Town Pantomime.
Because of COVID, this will be the first time in three years that the town has been able to enjoy its usual panto, and the show for 2023 is Sleeping Beauty.
Director David Atkins and musical director Louise Atkins wanted to put on a classic pantomime, and describe it as “a new look at the old tale, but with all the ingredients of a traditional pantomime – good fairies, bad fairies, good jokes, bad jokes and, of course, plenty of song, dance and audience participation”.
The story begins with the evil Malevolent placing a curse on the beautiful Princess Aurora, who is about to celebrate her birthday, and Malevolent hasn’t been invited.
Her plans are thwarted when Prince Rupert arrives for the party and he and the princess fall in love.
She plants a magic spinning wheel in Aurora’s way and causes the princess to fall into a deep sleep.
To make matters worse, she kidnaps Prince Rupert and it’s up to Aurora’s nurse, the court jester, and Rupert’s page – with a little help from a trio of good fairies – to try and rescue the prince so that the curse can be lifted.
Auditions for the show, which will be performed during the last two weekends in January 2023, take place on Monday, October 3 at King James Academy Royston, Senior Site.
Auditions for junior cast members (aged 12 and above) start at 7pm and those for the main roles – adults and those in Year 11 and above – take place at 8pm.
The auditions are open to anyone over the age of 12, whether or not you’ve been involved in a CADS production before, and no preparation is necessary.
Full details can be found on the CADS website at www.cadsroyston.org.uk and on social media at www.facebook.com/groups/cadsroyston
In the meantime, if you’d like to get involved but don’t necessarily want to appear on stage, CADS could do with some help with a lot of the backstage work, including costumes, make-up, props, set building, lighting and sound operation.
If you have a talent for any of these activities, or would like to learn more about stagecraft from CADS' resident experts, the group would love to hear from you.
You can contact them at any time via their website or by emailing cads.secretary@gmail.com
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