A theatre for all four seasons – and three pantos!

Sheringham Little Theatre director Debbie Thompson reflects on the summer and looks ahead to autumn and panto.

As one door slams shut another one opens – just like in our recent farce. But as we say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn, we are fully prepared for the rest of 2024 and start of 2025 – so we don’t aim to be caught with our trousers down. Summer was fun and our audiences enjoyed a quartet of high quality and varied dramas from a spooky thriller to side-splitting farce all delivered by a really strong cast.

Now our focus is on autumn and winter, including panto – and this year we have three of them! Oh yes we do! Our main panto Robin Hood is based on a show that was a huge success in our “sister theatre” St George’s in Great Yarmouth – but writer Nick Earnshaw is updating the topical humour and music so it’s freshened up for its trip around the coast.

We will be using local youngsters, aged six to 19, as our dancers working alongside a professional main cast. There are auditions for three teams of seven here at 9am on Sunday September 29. Robin runs from December 12 to January 4. Our first dabble with an adult panto sold out last year, so we are doing it again – with extra shows. Snow *hite – Rotten to the Core runs from January 9-12 and the content means it is definitely 18-plus only. And there’s a comeback for an old favourite – an amateur panto Ali Baba and the Four Tea Thieves presented by North Norfolk District Council from January 31 to February 1 raising funds for charity and showing that the council does have a sense of humour… Talking of raising money, we had a brilliant summer fundraiser event at Sheringham Hall where guests could chat with our star actor president Suranne Jones. Tickets and a silent auction generated nearly £8000 for the theatre thanks to our organising team headed by commercial manager Hannah Smith. Suranne also helped raise our profile thanks to BBC TV coverage of her coaching youngsters in a summer workshop that made national and regional coverage. She also appeared in two sell-out Q&A sessions. We are so grateful for the time she spent with us, and her fans, this summer.

Our autumn brochure is now out and is packed with some great shows. Highlights include two premieres – a new one-woman drama Marcella’s Minute to Midnight penned and performed by our friend and former summer rep actress Mary Lincoln (September 14) and a Norfolk-set drama exploring coastal folklore and superstitions called Thas a Rummun! (October 18).

Stand by for the gently comedic storytelling in James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show (September 26), which comes from the Edinburgh Fringe, and also involves Robin Hood.

And, for fans of Suranne’s Gentleman Jack series, there is a chance to see the musicians who wrote the theme tune, folk duo O’Hooley and Tidow, on November 24. There’s lots to look forward to. · Find out more and download the brochure here