The baddie with just a touch of Trump in Shoreham panto

James Austin Harvey is both villain and the show's director as pantomime returns to Shoreham's Ropetackle this Christmas.

Transcript

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

00:06speak to James Austin Harvey. And James, you are heading to Shoreham, to the Rope Tackle

00:11before long, where you have a dual role. You are not only the villain of the piece in Panto

00:16this year, you are directing the whole thing. How on earth do you combine those two things?

00:21Well, I'm a glutton for punishment, and I just like the pressure. So how do I combine

00:28it? It's a good question. I don't know. You just jump in. The main thing is to have a great cast,

00:36which we've got this year. So they're very suppressive, and they pitch in with ideas

00:41and their comments. Something that I'm doing isn't reading properly. They'll tell me,

00:47so that really helps. Absolutely. And playing the villain,

00:50yeah, you've generally been the dame, haven't you?

00:53I have in recent years, yes. It's about time my nasty side came out. I'm looking forward to

01:01getting some good boos and some hisses. There's something strangely joyous in coming on and being

01:08shouted at. And you are going to be a baker, who, well, you were saying slightly worryingly,

01:14a slightly Trumpian baker. Well, I think so, just in the fact that he

01:20is very much his own biggest fan. He thinks everything he says is right. He loves himself.

01:30He clearly thinks he's the most attractive man on the planet. And his skills are amazing,

01:37to say the least. So yeah, he did remind me a little bit about orange friend across the sea,

01:42but he won't be. I won't be orange. Thank goodness.

01:46But being the villain rather than the dame does mean, as you were saying, you get to keep that,

01:51well, rather splendid beard. Explain that beard and explain the bikes. What is the day job?

01:58Ah, the day job, yes. Well, I'm the manager of Tally Ho Cycle Tours. So it's a company that

02:05was in London, we're based in London, in Waterloo. And we take guests around the big

02:10sightseeing venues of London on beautiful patchy bikes, which is behind me here.

02:16We're very, we're the quintessential English touring experience. It's all tweeds,

02:21twizzly tashes, and a bit of quirkiness. Sounds fantastic, that sounds great. Great

02:30preparation for Penta in some ways, isn't it? Yeah, it's all about, I mean, everything I do

02:36in life is just advanced showing off, really. That's what it is. At least you have insight,

02:42yeah. Yeah, it's true. It's true. And it's fun. Yeah, my day job's fun. And Panto is an absolute

02:49joy. So I'm looking forward to coming down to Shoreham. Fantastic. Well, have a great time

02:54there. Hope it goes brilliantly. Lovely to speak to you. Thank you. Great. Thank you. See you there.

02:59Bye bye.