Santa Claus - The Panto
Beatrix the Bad Fairy wants to ruin Christmas, and she'll do anything to succeed - even kidnap Santa so he can't deliver presents. Fortunately, Gloria the Good is determined to foil Beatrix's evil plans so, despite various ups and downs, good triumphs over evil in the end and Christmas is saved.
On the way to that happy ending, there's plenty of the the things you expect in a panto: a dame, Christmas Cracker jokes, a romance (proving even a snowman can fall in love), lots of It's behind you and Oh no he's not and some slapstick comedy in the kitchen.
This panto was first performed at our local amateur theatre where it proved extremely popular with audiences, and the cast really enjoyed themselves too. I wrote the script with amateur productions in mind so there are plenty of small parts for the less experienced. Because of the storyline, it works best when performed before Christmas.
...a delightful story and a lovely romp through the North Pole and New York with some fun characters, colourful costumes, excellent singing, wonderfully nasty villain and some delightful comedy moments from the fairies and dame. The storyline was good and as one would expect, good triumphs over evil in the end.
Is the pantomime suitable for children?
Definitely. I wrote it with children in mind, and we had lots of children in our cast.
How can I get a copy of the script?
I'm giving away the script free to encourage people to read it and put on the show.
Download script
Can my group or school perform the pantomime?
Yes, provided you make a donation to The Cystic Fibrosis Trust instead of paying me royalties.
Why Cystic Fibrosis?
I've chosen this charity because both my sons were born with cystic fibrosis. It would be great if this show can raise money to find a cure so affected young people can live long lives and no more families have to grieve.
If we put on the show, can we use the picture on the right for our poster?
I can't give you permission to use it, but you can get a licence from Shutterstock at a reasonable price. You can then add the text you need for your show.
If we put on the show, can you help us publicise it?
Yes. Let me know the details and I'll mention it on this page and on my "news" page.
Productions
For Christmas 2023, Santa Claus - the Panto went international with productions in Australia and Canada. My thanks go to the Theater Arts Guild in Halifax, Nova Scotia for letting me watch a video of their excellent production. They made some interesting changes that worked well. In particular, they combined Daphne the Fairly Incompetent Fairy and Muriel Miserable into one character, cast a woman as Nanny instead of having her as a pantomime dame and used a very clever dog to play Puddle the Reindeer. It all made for a very enjoyable evening.