Rapunzel – The Tangled Panto plays Portsmouth Guildhall

Running from December 19-27, it’s a chance to meet Rapunzel, a lonely princess trapped in a tower longing for a life of adventure in the outside world. Along the way, you will witness Rapunzel’s courageous escape from mean Mother Gothel who wants the power of her magical hair.

Playing Mother Gothel is company founder Charlotte C-K.

“The company has been going six years now and I set it up just to produce professional panto but the big thing is that it's really important for us that we use a lot of young performers as well. We're a professional cast but we always have young performers from Hampshire, mainly Portsmouth and some from Havant and a few from Southampton. The key thing for us is to give a lot of young performers an opportunity to be in a professional show.

“We have done a pantomime every year since we started minus 2020, the Covid year. The first two we used a space at the Pyramids. We did like a self-build and we created a theatre, but now this is the third year that we have been at the Guildhall in Portsmouth. It can take 150 people and it's lovely because it means that we can do a really intimate show. It can be extremely interactive. Everyone is really involved. It means that all the children come up for the song sheet rather than just a select few and when the cast go in amongst the audience then it is just really close.

“You have to remember that panto is a lot of people's first experience of theatre. You think ‘It's just panto! Ha! Ha!’ but it's really important that we make sure that it's something that's totally engaging for children and something that's completely fun. We try to keep it really fast-paced. We don't use any filler scenes. For us really we try to make sure that everything is there because if it weren’t there then the panto wouldn't make any sense.

“I'm playing the baddie and she is really quite nasty. She is selfish and she is vain and she doesn't care about anyone or about how much she hurts people. She lies to Rapunzel and makes Rapunzel think that she cares for her but she really doesn't. And I just love playing baddies. I've done most principal boys but this is the third time I've played a baddie.”

The show is Rapunzel: “We always try to do something that is slightly off the beaten track. I love all the traditional pantos and I'm sure that one day we will do them but in a city where there are other pantos, we like to do something a little bit different. Last year we did The Little Mermaid. We steer away from the big ones just to be different.”

Tickets for Rapunzel – The Tangled Panto in the Lens Studio, Portsmouth Guildhall are available from the venue.

The show runs from December 19-27.