The stunningly beautiful house and grounds that form the National Trust’s Scotney Castle estate are the perfect backdrop for The Wicked Queen to entice Snow White to take a bite out of that, very special, apple as the team from The Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, on one of the last few hot and sunny days of the summer, launches its 2016 pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Iconic star of stage and TV screen, Su Pollard, takes on the role of the Wicked Queen and, as I find out when I sit down to speak with her, she just can’t wait to play the baddie…
“Oh, you know, It’s absolutely marvelous!”, Su said, “It’s really the only time that I get to be a “baddie”. I don’t really like to be around sort of negative, mean-minded people in general, because, sadly, some people are like that. Luckily most of them are fantastic, as we know, but this is my fabulous moment to go, well, perhaps there might just be a little bit of evil in me and I can let it come out and work with it.”
Also, the thing is though Paul, I try to have a lot of fun with it as well. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek evil because, although she wants to poison Snow White, and she undoubtedly does want to, I can really let rip there and, Oh, it’s absolutely marvelous because I want her dead, absolutely dead.
But doesn’t that confuse the audience who want to come and see lovely Su?
I suppose it does but I think they realise that, sorry, I’m supposed to be a baddie in this show and a baddie I will be! Course, there are a lot of fun scenes that I get to do as well. There’s a great scene where I try and seduce the Prince. Now that really can be a fun scene and people, if they want to, can say “Oh look, Su’s at it again”, but, why I like panto really is that good will always triumph over evil so, however mean you think you can be, you know what I’m saying, the audience are not going to have it and, as we all know, the Queen gets made good in the end.
The good thing with Tunbridge Wells is that they are a really good pantomime audience.
You know, I’ve heard that and I think that’s really good because some audiences can be a little bit shy at first, and I can understand that. Also, if you haven’t been to a panto before they might not get that “the rules” for panto are different. They may be used to sitting still and being quiet but we want them to really join in so I start by saying, “I am the Queen, the most beautiful of all Queens” and if they don’t shout “Oh no you’re not” straight away I get ’em really going by shouting “Oh yes I am!”.
Equally, Paul, so many people come along because they like to join in and they would be very disappointed if they weren’t allowed to scream and shout and boo and hiss. It’s a great way for us to get feedback from the live audience. For some of them it’s really odd that they can sit down and see something in reality, it’s not on a screen and, especially for the little kids, that might be all they’ve seen before.
It’s a whole new experience for them and, if we do our jobs right and you get them hooked when they are younger, they will want to go year after year, time and again. Let’s face it Darling, that’s where your perpetual audience comes from and a successful panto means that it keeps the theatre going for the rest of the year. I love it when people say to me, “I’ve never seen a panto before, but I loved it so much, I’m coming again”. That’s just what you want to hear, isn’t it?
Will we get to hear you sing in Snow White?
Oh yes, try and stop me! It’s a very musically led production because, let’s face it, you can have too much dialogue, Paul. We have script meetings and I go, “What’s all that dialogue doing there? That’s not relevant.Get rid of it and we can move swiftly on. You can’t have too much “padding” in a panto, you need to keep the story moving on and I get really proud if we get to interval and not one child has been to the toilet, cos, if the story is moving quick enough, they don’t want to go in case they miss anything.
The sad thing is when a coach is late for the beginning of the show. We have held shows for up to 15 minutes before, but you can’t do any more than that really because the rest of the audience get restless. You try and hold the curtain but you can’t always and I remember one memorable performance when a coach broke down and they all piled in late. So we stopped the show and we said, “Right, the first thing that happened was the Wicked Queen came on and said some mean stuff and then Muddles came on and said Hi to all the boys and girls…” and we ran through all that they missed to make sure that they didn’t feel like we had left them out, bless ’em.
It’s a magical time of the year to be doing a family show.
Oh yes, I think so too. You see, already you have a captive audience who are so excited and waiting for Christmas Day and the presents that, maybe, they are going to get. They are already fired up so, when they hear the overture, and it’s full of songs that they know, they really love it and then, there’s a big bang and a flash and a bom, bom, bom and there’s me, the Wicked Queen!
You know, you can always guarantee that a lot of people won’t be expecting that. Pyrotechnics they are called, and it goes off like a thunderbolt and you can always hear one of Granny’s at the front screaming! It’s always a Granny that does it ‘cos it scares them half to death.
I remember years ago, I was playing The Blue Fairy. It wasn’t rude, she was just called The Blue Fairy in Pinocchio and, forty years ago, pyro’s weren’t electrically fired like they are now. The fuse sat in a pot of explosive powder downstage and the DSM (Deputy Stage Manager) at the side would set it off. Well, sadly, my frock was quite long and I went up like Joan of Arc. My dress caught fire right there on stage, and I had to keep going. Oh my dear, it was hilarious, but I had to think on my feet. My dress at the bottom was all burnt so they had to cut it all off right there in the wings.
Audiences always love it when the panto seems to “go wrong”.
Oh yes. I mean there are a couple of things that happen and it’s not actually in the script, but the audience are really laughing their heads off, and you think, let’s keep that in. Oh, I have to tell you a funny story. About three years ago I was in Snow White and Muddles, the Court Jester, he does the song sheet bit with the kids. I was getting my finale costume on but I could hear them on the speaker in my dressing room. Muddles was introducing the kids and I heard… What’s your name I’m Josh. And how old are you? Four. And what did you get for Christmas? Umm, some Lego and a new computer game and….and….oh sod it, I forgot!
Su Pollard plays the Wicked Queen, together with Jamie Rickers as Muddles, Millie Booth as Snow White, Jamie Steen as Nursie and Chris Warner-Drake as The Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells from Friday 9th December 2016 until Monday 2nd January 2017. Please call the box office on 01892 530613 or go online at www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk for more details including performance times and ticket prices.
