MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I truly loved making this film in my adopted home town of Nottingham in 2015.
I still visit the pantomime at the Nottingham Arts Theatre every year and it feels like the true start of the christmas season. There’s nothing quite like the array of talent, the smart as hell quips, the jokes only the adults will understand and the joy of the audience participation.
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If you enjoy it, please share with your friends,
Lots of love and a very merry christmas.
Jeanie
SYNOPSIS
BBC Storyville presents a Glimmer Films and Met Film Production
A film by Jeanie Finlay
2015. 71 Mins. Documentary
Ninety per cent of UK theatres stage an annual festive pantomime — from lavish, celebrity-studded spectacles to modest amateur productions held together by goodwill and grit.
This is the story of the latter.
A hilarious, heartfelt and quietly heartbreaking documentary follows a group of Nottingham amateur actors as they mount their own production of Puss in Boots.
As arts funding is slashed and survival becomes an annual battle, this small community theatre must conjure full costumes, scenery and spectacle on a shoestring budget. What unfolds is chaos, comedy, malfunctioning pyrotechnics, a donkey costume that reveals more than intended, and a production described by one cast member as “a greater challenge than Shakespeare.”
Beyond the laughs, the film reveals what the theatre truly means to those involved — a lifeline, a refuge, and a place where creativity and community endure against the odds.
★★★★ THE OBSERVER
★★★★ SUNDAY TIMES
Critic’s Pick: DAILY MAIL, THE TELEGRAPH, TV TIMES, WHAT’S ON and TOTAL TV GUIDE