Cinderella Director Gareth Johnson shares his thoughts on both writing and directing a panto this year!
What draws you to directing a QPAC panto? Tell us a little bit about your experience on or behind stages!
I’ve been doing Pantomimes with QPAC for years and played so many different parts it’s great to be able to write and direct one and bring my whole vision for the panto to life, there’s such a great atmosphere and spirit at QPAC with the perfect mix of professionalism and having fun with the script that I think our audience will really love.
Previously I’ve written and directed The Wizard of Oz for QPAC which I thoroughly enjoyed and hope to make this one even better.
How did you find the process of writing your own Pantomime?
There’s really 2 stages to writing for me, getting the idea of what the plot is going to be, who the characters are and which moments in the plot are going to be important to them, and then putting the actual details and dialogue onto that.
I generally like to map out “how I would see a character in an average conversation” before writing plot specific dialogue for them and that hopefully means that when you write the proper, plot related dialogue, you have more character to base it on.
What makes your Cinderella different to any other?
The story starts as most do, with Cinderella stuck in a unfulfilling life controlled by others, but maybe a magical guardian sweeping in and also telling her what to do isn’t the best solution to that problem……
What excites you most about directing Cinderella?
Finding out all the fun ways in which the script can be interpreted and brought to life by the cast with everyone bringing their ideas and characters to truly make it a great, fun show.
Cinderella is the first in QPAC’s four-panto season this December, showing on the 6-7 December at 2pm and 6.30pm. The performance on Sunday 7 Dec at 6.30pm will be Signed by Marie Biswell from Hand Talking.
To see the whole Panto Season and to book tickets, visit https://queensparkarts.com/unbound-pantomimes/
