Out and About… Wake Up Time for Royston Pantomime 
Rehearsals are now well underway for the next Royston Town Pantomime, presented by local drama group CADS, and tickets are already selling well.
It’s been three years since the town has been able to enjoy its usual panto, which has always been a keenly anticipated part of the post-Christmas festivities. The show for 2023 is Sleeping Beauty, directed by David Atkins with musical direction by Louise Atkins, and it’s a new look at the old tale, but with all the ingredients of a traditional pantomime – good fairies, bad fairies, good jokes, bad jokes and, of course, plenty of songs, dance and audience participation.
The tale begins with the evil Malevolent placing a curse on beautiful Princess Aurora, who is about to celebrate her birthday and Malevolent hasn’t been invited. Her plans are thwarted when Prince Rupert arrives for the party and he and the princess fall in love. Malevolent plants a magic spinning wheel in Aurora’s way and causes the princess to fall into a deep sleep. To make matters worse, she kidnaps Prince Rupert and it’s up to Aurora’s nurse, the court jester and Rupert’s page – with a little help from a trio of good fairies – to try and rescue the prince so that the curse can be lifted.
The pantomime will be performed as usual at King James Academy Royston (Senior Site) during the last two weekends in January 2023, and this year, in response to popular demand, the group is putting on an additional matinee performance so that more children (and grown-ups, too, of course!) can enjoy the show.
Performance dates are Saturday 21st January (2 and 7.30pm), Sunday 22nd January (11.30am), Friday 27th January (7.30pm) and Saturday 28th January (2 and 7.30pm).
Tickets went on sale at the KJAR Christmas Market in November and have been selling extremely well, with the second Saturday matinee now almost sold out. In recognition of the difficulties families are currently facing, prices have been kept at £12 for adults and £8 for concessions (children, students and OAPs). You can book online following the link on the CADS website www.cadsroyston.org.uk or by phone on 07856 599039
