New Theatre Royal panto in Portsmouth gets under way

SussexWorld

Emma Marsh has played Snow White. She has played Dick Whittington. Now she turns her attention to Aladdin at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth this Christmas.

Transcript

00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this

00:06 morning to be speaking to Aladdin, Emma Boyle, who is going to be Aladdin at the new Theatre

00:12 Royal in Portsmouth this Christmas. Now, Aladdin is a great story, isn't it? What kind of

00:16 Aladdin are you going to be? What do you have to do to be a good Aladdin?

00:21 I think it's really about encompassing everyone. So getting the audience involved, getting

00:28 all the cast involved. We've got a kids' chorus as well. I feel like Aladdin brings everyone

00:32 together. He has his own story, but at the same time, he shares that with everyone and

00:37 he makes sure everyone is just as happy as he is throughout the whole thing. So I think

00:42 it's about having that energy, having that kindness, having that friendly vibe about

00:47 him that kind of brings everyone together and enjoys the story with him.

00:51 That sounds terrific. And you've graduated in 2019, but already you've got quite considerable

00:56 Panto experience. You've done Dick Whittington. Did you say you've done Snow White as well?

01:01 Yes.

01:02 Tell me about those ones.

01:05 So Snow White was my professional debut straight out of drama school. Absolutely loved it.

01:13 Met the love of my life there. Met some friends that I'm still in contact with now. It was

01:18 just great getting into the Panto zone and having so much fun on stage and off stage,

01:23 both for the cast, the crew and also the audience. And that's kind of why I fell in love with

01:27 it. And then last year I played Dick Whittington at Potter's Bar with Jordan Productions as

01:32 well. And again, I've made friends for life doing that. And then them asking me to come

01:36 back this year was kind of ticked straight away. Yeah, I'll be there. Don't worry at

01:40 all because Jordan Productions as a whole is such a great company to work for. And when

01:44 I found out it was in such a beautiful theatre in such a great city, I couldn't say no, really.

01:49 Fantastic. And you've managed to get your career completely back on track after graduating

01:53 the year before the pandemic. And the pandemic was obviously very bad timing for everyone,

01:58 but tough for you, wasn't it? Yeah, definitely. I graduated in 2019 and

02:04 then had six months of work where I was lucky enough to get to know White and do the Panto

02:08 and then Covid hit straight away. And then unfortunately, as I was no longer a graduate

02:12 and also as obviously I didn't put my name out there because I had just graduated and

02:16 Covid hit, it was very hard to get back into the industry. But I feel like Panto is the

02:20 one thing that I can, I feel like I fit well into. So every year I have Panto and that

02:27 kind of keeps me going as a performer and then hopefully get something bigger in the

02:31 future. Absolutely. And first impressions of Portsmouth

02:34 New Theatre Royal? It's a great theatre, isn't it?

02:37 It's so beautiful. I went walking in, I had the tummy tingles because when you stand on

02:44 that stage and look out into the auditorium, the old fashioned, beautiful auditorium, it

02:49 just hits differently, as some people would say.

02:53 And from the audience point of view, it really is a lovely place to watch Panto.

02:56 Yeah, definitely. You can already tell how the atmosphere of the theatre will combine

03:01 with the show as well. Fantastic. We're really lovely to see you.

03:05 Looking forward to seeing Aladdin this Christmas at the Theatre Royal Portsmouth. Thanks for

03:09 your time. Thank you.

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