Dame For A Laugh

There is nothing like a dame...SU CARROLL talks to three men who think they have the best role in Christmas pantos this year

“ESSENTIALLY, I’m just a fat bloke in a frock,” laughs Steve Bennett, as he prepares to return to the wigs and dresses necessary to play the dame in this year’s pantomime, Dick Whittington, at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

“There’s something incredibly magical about the simplicity of panto for young audiences used to virtual reality. They see a bloke dressed as a dame and they’re buying it completely.”

Steve has been a seasoned dame at Exeter, appearing between 1996 and 2010 in three Cinderellas, two Aladdins, two Dick Whittingtons, two Mother Gooses, two Jack and the Beanstalks, two Sleeping Beauties and one Babes in the Wood.

Financial difficulties at theatre contributed to the demise of the traditional panto, but they tipped their toe back in the water last year with Peter Pan when Steve returned... to play Tinkerbell.

“It was great that the Northcott produced its own Christmas show, but this year we thought – let’s not mess around, let’s do a proper panto.”