Why Crawley panto has got such a big place in Richard’s heart

The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan fly onto the stage at The Hawth, Crawley this Christmas (Friday, December 9-Monday, January 2) – and Richard is delighted to be back.

“Yes, I am back despite popular demand!” he laughs. “But I just love it here. I actually live in Kent which is an hour and a half away but it's definitely worth the drive. Crawley has got a very special place in my heart and it's just a lovely place to be. The Hawth always put forward an amazing panto and the staff here are always just very friendly and lovely. It is a great way of spending Christmas.”

And there are definitely advantages to being established in a venue: “I think people start to recognise you and you can build on that from year to year. They kind of know what to expect from you and you don't have to introduce yourself quite so much.” But there is extra pressure too: “You always fear the stony silence, the panto nightmare of walking off to the sound of your own steps! But that won't happen at Crawley. We've got such a lovely cast and we're going to have great fun.”

Also, it is such an important part of the year. Not even Covid could stop Crawley's panto. In the Covid year of 2020, The Hawth put on a reduced-scale panto with a cast of five

“And we managed to keep going for quite a while. The tier system was changing and theatres were getting closed down but we managed to keep going the longest before we had to go into tier three.

"It was really lovely that we managed to do something and that we did it for as long as we could and that was just so important. Panto is just such a big part of people's Christmas tradition and we managed to give it to them.”

All of which experience gives Richard a clear idea of what makes the perfect panto: “You have got to have lots of funny bits and you've got to have lots of glitter and lots of sparkle and lots of feel-good Christmas joy. And you've got to have amazing dance as well. I love all the dancing bits when the dancers come on and I stand at the back of stage and just come forward for a big bow at the end!”

So in that sense it doesn't really matter which particular panto you are doing.

“Obviously audiences will have favourite titles and some titles are done more than others but really the title is just what gives us the reason to be on stage together making a panto.

"What really makes panto is the people on stage, and I know everybody will give their best. I'm really looking forward to it.”

This year's pantomime stars Rita Simons as The Hawth’s first female Captain Hook. Rita will be joined by Karim Zeroual in the title role of Peter Pan.

Tickets for The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan are available at hawth.co.uk or by calling The Hawth Box Office (10am-4pm, Monday to Friday) on 01293 553636.

The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan is at The Hawth, Crawley from Friday, December 9-Monday, January 2.