January 2017

Director’s Note
When the opportunity arose for me to write another pantomime for Centre Stage there was no doubt in my mind that it had to be Peter Pan! As a child I always found the story both charming and enchanting which I think are two words which could also be used to describe our group (well, most of the time!). So after a few re-writes, run throughs and clarifications as to what certain words such as “siri” meant to some of our committee members…Peter Pan 2017 was printed and cast!

Directing this show has been one big barrel of laughter from start to finish. From designing costumes for our dame to figuring out ways in which to fly members of the cast… it has been a rollercoaster of fun! With such a hard-working and creative cast, rehearsals have been very collaborative with ideas such as lying on pianos and throwing glitter being suggested and carried out weekly! There is no greater pleasure than watching your own writing being brought to life in such a fun and dynamic way which I owe to my wonderful cast.

When writing this pantomime I did (as usual!) get quite carried away going from scene to scene not really considering the logistics or organisational requirements. However, no task is ever too challenging for our ingenious backstage crew who power through and somehow find ways to make it work. Without my stage manager Malcolm and his team giving up hours of their time to plan, design and create the set for this production it would not be possible or as fantastic as it is. On behalf of the cast I would like to thank you for making the magic happen!

Right, I’ll take a deep breath now, Thank you to: THE amazing Grace, our musical director whose patience and talents know no limits, to Linda Connor our producer who has yet again managed to keep me in check and done a marvelous job, my glamorous co-director Emily Coles who bravely agreed to get on board the directorial boat, Alice (Wendy) for designing our flyer, Jack and Ed for amplifying the show and their hard work, Charlie and Paul (Nana) for their incredible illuminations, Hazel and Lorraine for sourcing and dressing the cast so creatively, Bryan and Stuart for putting together such a lovely programme, Ben for whipping our dancers into shape, Gill and her team for their creativity and vision for front of house, our bar managers and stall holders and to my mother for keeping me calm and being the ultimate ticket master. Finally, an all-round thank you to everyone who has brought this show to life and made it the success it is, you know who you are! And not forgetting, a big thank you to you the audience for supporting us and making performing such a pleasure! On behalf of the cast and crew I hope you enjoy the show as much as we have enjoyed creating it…oh yes we have!

Best wishes,
Yasmin Zahran
Writer and Director