The modern pantomine took form with Henry James Byron’s Aladdin, or the ‘Wonderful Scamp’, in 1861. Since then, Aladdin has become a regular feature at theatre’s across the U.K during the Christmas pantomine season. Aladdin was staged at Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple between the 15th of December 2005 and 8th of January 2006 by the North Devon Theatres in association with the Hiss & Boo Company Ltd.
The Dick Whittington pantomine ran at Hall for Cornwall between the 9th of December and the 7th of January 2006/07 in association with The Hiss and Boo Company Ltd. The production featured BBC Radio Cornwall’s Mid Morning presenter David White as the baddie King Rat, with Jeffrey Holland directing the production and also playing Sarah the Cook. The pantomine was choreographed by Tracey Tickle with Frank Kershaw in charge of costumes.
The modern pantomine took form with Henry James Byron’s Aladdin, or the ‘Wonderful Scamp’, in 1861. Since then, Aladdin has become a regular feature at theatre’s across the U.K. during the Christmas pantomine season. Aladdin was staged at Hall for Cornwall in association with the Hiss & Boo Company Ltd between the 12th of December and the 6th of January 2007/08. The production featured the former Generation Game host Isla St Clair as the Genie and BBC Radio Cornwall’s David White returned to the HfC stage as the Emperor. The cast also featured Cornish actors Mark Buffery and Andrew Beavis, who played Aladdin.
The Cinderella pantomine has been regularly staged at Hall for Cornwall throughout the theatre’s history. With the main characters of Fairy Godmother, the Ugly Sisters, Widow Twanky and Buttons, the pantomine follows the misfortunes of Cinderella until good finally trumps evil and she marries her Prince Charming. The pantomine was again staged at Hall for Cornwall in 2002 and ran between the 13th of December and the 12th of January.
Several old posters of past performances at City Hall were discovered during the first Hall for Cornwall build between 1995-97. However, due to being firmly glued onto the wall, they were unfortunately not able to be preserved.