Oh yes it is!

Local museum celebrates local pantomime society anniversary.

When St Giles with St Mary’s Pantomime /Theatre Society, in Pontefract, was contacted by its town’s local authority run museum, they had no idea what would be involved in the next year of planning and research. Interested to see the society promoting it’s 75th year of performing in the town museum, curator David Evans got in touch to see if there was potential for an exhibition. Jo Sykes agreed to look into what might be interesting and useful for the museum to display and a veritable treasure trove of history was unearthed.

Pantomime was introduced to the Parish of Pontefract by the Reverend Jack Peel, who produced the first pantomime, in January 1950, as the St Giles Players – a later amalgamation with St Mary’s saw the society become St Giles with St Mary’s Pantomime Theatre Society. Reverend Peel continued to produce the annual show until 1956, when he transferred to Kingston, Jamaica.

Despite some challenges in the 1960s, when the expansion of ‘home entertainment’ presented some difficulties, the society continued to go from strength to strength. From the 1980s, there was a period of stability and development under Barbara Arundell, who produced for 28 years, before her sad and sudden passing in 2011. Wendy Underwood, Society Life Member and fifty-year NODA medal holder, then took on responsibility of being producer/director until Jo succeeded her in 2016.

Whilst having been an active member for over 40 years, there were still many years when Jo hadn’t been involved. However, Jo knew where to look for more information.

In 2023, the society lost it’s longest serving active member when Kebir Berry, MBE, passed away just days before his 60th anniversary of supporting the amateur stage. During his many years at St Giles, Kebir had pulled together a comprehensive archive of the societies history including programmes and photos from all the past productions. In exploring these files, Jo found old posters and tickets along with other memorabilia.

The programmes and photos were passed to the team at the museum who decided on the themes they felt would be of interest to the public. This resulted in a huge ‘scavenger hunt’ which unearthed so many different things including make-up packaging from the 1950s, costumes dating back to the 1980s, along with props and other items from the society’s history. A professional designer was commissioned to produce the artwork and the result was staggering. With themes around costumes, panto dames, Sunbeams, NODA awards, make-up, backstage and front of house, the exhibition celebrates the society and the many people who have been involved in keeping the society active in the town.

The exhibition was formally opened in November and the opening ceremony included performances by the society’s Sunbeams and story-time with Dame Peggy and the Panto Fairy. The society has been delighted to see all the visitors enjoy what is on show including the interactive opportunities: a fancy-dress box, a themed letter hunt, a fabulous craft sheet to build your own panto theatre, screens showing videos of past productions and a chance to singalong to the society’s own audience participation song ‘Ponte Pantomime’, wirtten by Society Life Member, David Hookham. Members of the museum’s team came to see the society perform Hansel & Gretel in January, and more events are planned throughout the year.

The exhibition is in place until the end of October 2025, so if anyone fancies a trip to Pontefract (home of liquorice, mentioned by Shakespeare and the site of the castle where King Richard II is thought to have died) don’t forget to pop in and see how this small community pantomime society has had a big influence on generations in the town.

Jo Sykes

NODA North East Youth Coordinator

Photo credit - Nick Singleton