Above the Stag panto team to stage Christmas shows

In the wake of the sad news of the recent Above The Stage Theatre closure, there is a glimmer of queer adult panto hope.

The creative team behind the LGBTQ+ venue’s past pantomimes has announced the launch of a new company, He’s Behind You! – comprised of producer Oli Sones, writers Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper, director Andrew Beckett and regular dame Matthew Baldwin – with the aim to produce future shows in London.

Bradfield and Hooper said: “We never feel prouder than when we get introduced to people as ‘the guys that write the Above The Stag pantomime’. We’ve been lucky to be part of the theatre’s story since its earliest incarnation in a room above a pub, and we’re among the many people who will miss it. Our thoughts are with anyone losing work, a place to create and entertain, or simply a venue that they loved to visit. We have been blessed with a theatre and collaborators who have taken our silliness seriously and thrown everything at the pantos; and thousands of audience members who, in the main, have refrained from throwing anything and who have made our shows a joyous annual ritual to share with friends, colleagues, partners and families. We can’t wait to take them on our next adventure with our new company, He’s Behind You.”

The company will announce its inaugural production in due course.

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