THEY JUST can’t stay away. And who can blame them when they’re having fun?
The wicked stepsisters from The Hexagon’s recent production of Cinderella are returning for the Reading-based theatre’s Easter panto, Puss In Boots.
Kate Eaves will play Puss In Boots, while her friend Emma Jane Wylde will be both the Fairy and the Queen.
And they couldn’t be happier with their swift return, just a month after the curtain came down on Cinderella.
“I appeared at The Hexagon in Peter Pan a few years ago so being back for the recent Christmas season was wonderful,” says Kate. “The front of house team and crew backstage are incredibly friendly and hard-working and it really does feel like a home away from home.
“Our production of Cinderella was really well received and we all definitely had the ‘panto blues’ once it had finished.”
“I have great memories of Cinderella, but one that wasn’t so great for me, but hilarious for everyone else, was running off stage in the ball and tripping up on the smoke machine, falling flat on my face in my big purple dress and Emma having to slide me off stage by my arms which she will never let me live down.”
“I am very excited for Puss in Boots and feel extremely lucky to have been given another new challenge to take on as I’ve never played a principal boy (or cat) before. I’m really looking forward to doing my first ever thigh slap.”
And Emma adds: “My first Christmas is Reading was brilliant and I am delighted to be invited back for the Easter panto. I never thought I would enjoy being a baddie as much as I did but I loved it, particularly getting to interact with the audience. It was also an added bonus that I got to do it opposite my real-life best friend, Kate.”
“I have so many wonderful memories from Cinderella but I think my favourite one was seeing my two-year-old niece Eva in the audience smiling and waving at me.
“She also shouted my name ‘Emma’ about 500 times whilst I was on stage in a scene and it was very hard trying to ignore her!”
Steve Boden, Managing Director of Imagine Theatre who produce the panto, says: “The Hexagon’s Cinderella audiences loved booing Kate and Emma this Christmas so they seemed a natural choice to invite back for Puss in Boots, albeit in very different roles.”
Also joining the previously announced Hear’Say singer Suzanne Shaw and CBeebies’ Chris Jarvis are Ben Millerman as Dame Dorothy Donut and Daniel Tawse as Baron Herman Von Thunderpants.
This will be Dame Ben Millerman’s first time on the stage at The Hexagon and he is very excited to star in his first Easter panto.
“This will be my fourth time playing Dame, but my first at Easter, and I love the outlandish costumes that I get to wear,” he says.
“While the comic role is there to make the kids laugh I really believe the Dame is there to make the adults laugh. I love the double entendre that the Dame gets away with and the ability to play with the audience. It’s a role that I loved as a child watching pantomimes and a role which is a joy to perform.”
“I’m excited to do pantomime at a different time of year and give families another chance to spend time together and experience the joy of live theatre.”
Daniel Tawse has previously played the role of Eugene in Beauty and the Beast for Imagine Theatre at De Montfort Hall in Leicester and he is delighted with his wicked role.
“I love playing the baddie because I think that they are the most interesting characters,” he explains.
“There’s always some sort of backstory/sinister motivation going on that isn’t always very obvious, and I find that hilarious. Plus, I love winding people up for attention.”
Puss In Boots will be performed at The Hexagon in Reading from Wednesday, April 8 through to Saturday, April 11.
For more details, or to book, log on to whatsonreading.com or call the box office on 0118 960 6060.
