Nottingham Playhouse to present socially distanced pantomime – casting announced

Cinderella will go to the ball in Nottingham – as the venue has revealed it will go ahead with a socially distanced pantomime.

The cast will be led by Nottingham Playhouse panto favourite John Elkington (Holes ) as Ugly Sister Kourtney. He will be joined by Tim Frater (Forever Young ) as Buttons and Gabrielle Brooks (Twelfth Night) as the Cinderella. Tom Hopcroft (Comedy About A Bank Robbery) will team up with Elikington as other Ugly Sister, Kylie, whilst Max Runham (Macbeth) will play the Prince. Sara Poyzer, (Assassins), who grew up in Nottinghamshire, will alternate good and evil as the Fairy Godmother and the Baroness Kim and Jessica Lee (Evita) will play Dandini.

There will be a choice of live-streamed performances for those at home, with the panto running for 75 minutes and a reduced capacity to allow for social distancing.

The piece runs from 3 December to 16 January, and is written and directed by the venue's artistic director Adam Penford, with musical direction by John Morton, choreography by Rachael Nanyonjo, lighting by Alexandra Stafford-Marsha and sound by Will Cottrell.

Penford said: "Christmas in Nottingham just wouldn't be the same without a Playhouse panto, it's a major part of the cultural calendar. So this year we will be mounting a special version of the most popular panto title in the land, Cinderella. Whilst there will be necessary changes to bring it to the stage and ensure safety is paramount, it will still contain all the fun, magic and festive cheer of the classic Playhouse panto, which audiences know and love."

The originally scheduled Beauty and the Beast has been moved to 2021.