St Nicolas Players set to perform Mother Goose at the South Holland Centre in Spalding as an Easter panto
A convention-breaking Easter panto is set to honour a late theatre group member’s wishes before he died – and organisers hope it will also breathe life into the ‘drab’ town centre.
It may not be traditional panto season, but families and visitors are welcomed to enjoy the production of Mother Goose at the South Holland Centre in Spalding – with the first show taking place tonight (Wednesday, March 27) from 7.30pm.
Organisers from the theatrical group St Nicolas Players hope the performance will help attract people into the town and provide a boost to the Market Place venue too.
Ahead of the first show, director Jules Jones said: “I’m so excited for the show. The rehearsals are such fun and I feel like this Easter will be a fantastic time to introduce pantomime into our repertoire again.
“The St Nicholas Players used to put on a pantomime every year but we haven’t done one for about 30 years. I have wanted to organise one for seven years and a member of the society and a very good friend of mine, Philip Bosworth, made me promise to do one again. I told him I would make sure too and in some ways this performance is in his honour.”
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Philip died in 2018 but leaves a strong legacy among the players, with which he directed performances.
The popular Mother Goose story line follows a family who are down on their luck but meet Fairy Collywobbles who comes to the rescue by giving them a gift which changes their world.
Jules added: “This is my baby and we think the people of Spalding will adore this funny story. We’d love to bring it back every year but it does cost an awful lot of money for amateur theatre companies to put on shows.
“We are hoping the local community, businesses and schools will help us get our costs back and then we will have enough money to fund the next one.
“I think it is also important that we support the South Holland Centre because if we don’t use it, we will lose it. It needs to continue being the hub for Spalding as so many shops have closed down and the town centre is drab. Let’s change that and make it more family friendly by putting on good quality productions again.”
The cast will also take to the stage on Thursday, March 28 at 7.30pm, Friday, March 29 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm and Saturday, March 30 from 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £14 per person and £12 for concessions. If you are interested in booking a space, visit the South Holland Centre website or call the box office on 01775 764777.
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