Tim McArthur delighted to be back in Hastings panto

SussexWorld

Tim McArthur is delighted to return for his sixth year of panto in Hastings – three before the pandemic and three since our Covid miseries.

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Fabulous

00:05 this afternoon to speak to Dame, well Fairy Godmother, Tim McArthur of the Hastings White

00:11 Rock Panto. Now you open in the middle of December and you love Panto in Hastings, don't

00:17 you? This is number six with a gap for pandemic in between. What keeps you, Tim, coming back

00:25 to Hastings?

00:27 I really love the audiences here at the White Rock Theatre. They are so warm, so generous,

00:33 they're lots of fun, they really participate in the story and, you know, this is my sixth

00:38 year here and it feels like coming home now every Christmas, which is really nice. I know

00:43 like, oh it'd be December, I'm going to be at the White Rock and I'm in Hastings.

00:47 Tell me, does that give you an advantage that you're going to a place where they know you

00:53 or does it actually heap up the pressure because don't you have to be a little bit better than

00:56 you were last year?

00:58 Yeah, there is that as well. You always have to think like, oh I hope the script's funny,

01:02 I hope we're going to have funny bits to do. And of course, you know, working with Ben

01:05 Watson who's been here I think for 10 years, me and Ben have such a great chemistry together

01:12 on stage and we're very much a double act and it's just sort of really joyous and we

01:18 know each other so well now. We know what little buttons to press when we're on stage.

01:23 I mean, last year was just, we had the famous balloon ballet to do last year, which was

01:28 just absolute carnage on stage. I mean, Ben has, over the years, Ben is very controlled

01:37 about not corpsing and last year he went more than I did. And I think the great thing about

01:43 Panto is if you as a company and a cast are having a great time on stage and you're telling

01:49 the story and you're delivering what's expected, I think the audience really feed off that

01:54 energy and when, you know, when things go wrong or when you laugh, like the balloon

02:00 ballet last year, I mean, there was moments when we were on stage crying and the audience

02:05 were just, you know, beside themselves.

02:07 I do think that comes across, doesn't it? From the point of view of the audience, you

02:12 do sense if everyone's getting on, don't you?

02:15 Yes, absolutely. And it's really important, I think, to have a happy company as well,

02:21 especially in Panto because, you know, the schedule's really tough. It's a really quick

02:24 rehearsal process. And sort of as an actor in the rehearsal room, you have to make decisions

02:29 quite quickly and choices regarding what you do and how you portray the character. But

02:35 then also once you get in front of the audience, you find out what really lands or something

02:40 fun might happen by accident that you think, oh, that was really funny and the audience

02:45 really responded.

02:46 So a little bit of unexpected each night. But interesting, you said just now about telling

02:50 the story, that's crucial too, is sometimes some Pantos, I don't know, the story gets

02:55 a bit lost, doesn't it?

02:56 Yeah, yeah. And you have to tell the story. And it's something that I always remember

03:00 when I first did Damien Hereford. The director there was this lovely lady called Estelle

03:06 and she said, you know, the main thing with Panto is story, story, story. And she said,

03:11 you know, I direct Panto like we do in a Shakespeare play, because it's really important that the

03:16 audience know the journey of the story. They know when to boo, they know when to cheer,

03:21 they know when to do all the traditions like it's behind you, you know. And also, I think

03:26 it's very much the importance of Panto is, you know, we've got, I think there's eight

03:30 principals in the cast, and then we've got four lovely dancers, we've got the junior

03:34 chorus, but also the audience have to be a member of the cast as well. It's really important

03:39 that you acknowledge that they are part of it.

03:43 So interesting, so many different bits have to come together for a decent Panto, don't

03:47 they?

03:48 And it's really interesting, because, you know, I really think now I'm quite mature

03:53 getting on, you know, no Botox, it's all real. But I feel like, like over the years, you

03:59 really have to really tell the story and be true to what you're doing. And you have to

04:06 believe it, you have to believe, the audience have to believe the story, which is the most

04:10 important thing, because sometimes it can get lost. And I don't think that's a positive

04:14 thing.

04:15 Brilliant. Well, have a very, very happy sixth Panto in Hastings.

04:19 Thank you very much.

04:20 Lovely to speak to.

04:21 You can go and get my wand out. You shall go to the ball.

04:26 I thought you were going to turn me into something then.

04:29 No, no, you're fine. No.

04:31 Oh, thank you very much.

04:32 Or maybe a green lizard. No, I don't know.

04:35 What a make a change, wouldn't it? Lovely to speak to you. Thanks ever so much.

04:40 Thanks so much. Thank you. Happy Christmas.

04:42 And you. Bye bye.

04:43 Bye.

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