Panto players beat back illness for perfect performance (From Stroud News and Journal)

Panto players beat back illness for perfect performance

A PANTOMIME production plagued by delay, cancellation and rampant illness finally played to packed houses in Box last week.

The Box Players production of Ali Baba - featuring not 40 but seven thieves due to village hall space constraints - was all but sold out for its Thursday to Saturday run last week after an epic battle to get it to the stage.

Costume designer Geraldine Ames said: "We had a lot of illness. The pianist was seriously ill, the lighting man had an infection in his foot and a flu bug hit a lot of the main characters.

"Normally fit and healthy people were going down like flies but we got through it in the end although we could have done without it."

The production had originally been scheduled for performance last year but was cancelled when no one could be found to do the stage scenery.

But last week's stellar audiences made it all worthwhile.

Director Chris Ames said: "It went very well. We had packed houses every night and everyone seemed to enjoy it."

As for the curious Box tradition of staging its pantomimes in March, Mr Ames was armed with a ready explanation.

"We discovered by hard experience that getting people to rehearsals before Christmas was almost a no go," he said.

"They were all tied up with families and there were a lot of other things going on - pantos in Nailsworth and Minchinhampton - which were attracting people who might otherwise have come to us and played for us so consequently we said lets have it a little bit later.

"Nobody seems to mind that it's March. They all say ooh yes please we're coming next year. We get very good support from the village."

Next year's production is set to be Dick Whittington.

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