Beauty & the Beast the Black-E
Panto season is nearly upon us, and for something a little different this year, Beauty & the Beast will be the debut production from new theatre company Drops of Light CIC, who are busy transforming the city centre's Black-E in to an enchanted castle for the venue's first ever pantomime.They say audiences can expect full pantomime production values and an immersive Christmas experience, with an original script written by Jessica Lea and directed by Sam Donovan promising a hilarious scouse twist on the classic fairytale.Liverpool-based costume company JayLay Designs have created a whopping 252 bespoke costumes for the show, transforming the inhabitants of the enchanted castle into an array of weird and wonderful objects.Alongside the professional creative team, Drops of Light have engaged more than 100 community members to take part in workshops assisting in the creation of the show. A selection of participants will take on various roles across the production, appearing on stage alongside the principal cast or helping the production team backstage.The cast features Tori Hargreaves as Beauty, with her wacky toymaker father Egbert the Inventor played by Alan Stocks. Nick Langmead plays Beast, and love rival Gorgeous Gaz is played by Ciaran Kellgren.Bringing the enchanted castle to life is comic Basic Bertie (Adam McCoy) and Dame Dolly (Jamie Greer) who along with magical mishap prone Fairy Rose (Helen Carter) try their best to break the spell that has them stuck in the castle.Drops of Light CIC are a community focused theatre production company formed in February 2017 by Sean Gibbons, James Lacey and Siobhan Noble, who formerly ran the much-missed Lantern Theatre.The show runs from December 6 to 31, and tickets are available from www.dropsoflightcic.com. For group bookings, email theteam@dropsoflightcic.com.
