Into the Panto Swing

Last night we held the Fresher’s Fair at my college. This was our opportunity to see if we could inject some new blood into the club and recruit a few members.

It was all a bit of a mad dash in the event, as it was just the two of us (me and one of the other directors) setting up the stand, pushing out the flyers and cajoling people to our stand. And there was a wide range of activities to get involved with; from beagling to rowing, from badminton to wargames, from fencing to polo.

But it was very worthwhile as the timing worked so well for us. The auditions for the panto are tomorrow night, so it was a matter of saying “come along, see what we’re about, have a drink and see if this is something that you want to have a go at”. Indeed we had a professional stage makeup artist sign up! (That’s the Ugly Sisters sorted then!)

But in the rounds we took another step closer to Denim being produced here at the club spring next year. There are a couple of suggestions for that production, but Denim is gaining more of a following as all it requires is a single box set and the construction of the bar. As Denim runs in a single timeframe, there is no requirement for scene changes and requires a minimal stage crew – something that the other plays being suggested lack.

So I made the call that when it comes to the selection of the next production, I can not be on the script reading committee if Denim is on the list. But my job now is to ensure that the panto runs well and retains enough actors to make the casting of Denim possible… This club hasn’t been able to put on a play with a cast of 15 for a number of years, but with the interest we gained last night, we might be able to change that.

Let’s see how the auditions run tomorrow.