Chris Aukett will be dame this year in panto at Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal

Two years ago he was here as one of the ugly sisters; now he is back as Widow Twankey in Aladdin running from Friday, December 8 until Sunday, December 31 (with a BSL signed performance on December 17 and relaxed performance on December 31).

“I was here in 2021 and it was quite a difficult year for the theatre generally, so it's going to be great to be back now with the pub open next door! It was quite strict for us two years ago because if somebody in the company had got Covid they wouldn’t have been able to come in so we had to stay away from each other backstage and the normal connection that you have between the cast when you're doing a panto just wasn't able to happen, and that was a bit of a shame. I think the audience still had a great time but for us backstage we didn’t get all the fun stuff that you usually do when a panto is up and running.

“But it is great to be back. It's a really beautiful theatre. It feels like a proper old traditional theatre and it's not often that you get to do a panto in this kind of theatre.

“And this year is going to be a great big change for me from what I normally do. I've been an ugly sister for ten years and now this is my first dame role. I've got to turn the scowl into a smile… and scowling comes much more naturally!

“But it really will be very different. There is a very unique dynamic to being an ugly sister. You are the villain and you are also the comedy character at the same time and that was very interesting for me. I really enjoyed being evil one minute and then making people laugh the next, and that really is quite a challenge but I've worked with Jordan Productions for five years now and when you play one part, obviously you have to go where the show is, but if you start playing the dame then you could do any show anywhere which is much easier.

“The dame's got to be the mum in the show. She makes sure that everyone is OK throughout it all and she keeps an eye on Aladdin and checks that everything is OK.”

Some producers are a little wary of Aladdin as a panto choice, but Chris insists it is going to be a lovely family show: “You've just got to make sure that it is a show for everybody and really is inclusive of everybody. There has to be a lot of comedy and jokes and you have to make sure that they don't rely on alienating people or stereotyping people which might be more difficult if you had a script from the 1960s but this is a very modern one and it really is about including everyone and making sure everyone has fantastic fun.”

Chris trained at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) and graduated in 2011 with a 2:1 honours degree in acting. Theatre credits include Engine Driver and U/S Toad in Wind in the Willows (London Palladium) and Max in Zelda (Other Palace).