‘Let’s do a Panto’ It all seemed so simple. The club had been going for almost 10 years and our children had been helping out front and backstage, with the occasional youth’s part available. In those days there was not access to the amount of youth theatre that there is now, so a panto seemed the obvious answer.

With lots of enthusiasm and absolutely no experience whatsoever we embarked on our first panto. ‘Hansel and Gretel’ Our families were despatched to round up a few friends each for the chorus (no experience and no auditions required!) We booked Carnoustie High School Theatre for the first week in December and we were off.

No money? No problem! ‘Let’s run monthly discos’. This was 1978 and disco fever was at it’s height. For the next six months we ran discos in the local hall with the help of parents and older club members.

The first night arrived. The 45 cast and chorus were nervous and excited. The curtains opened……there was an audience of 17. The theatre was capable of holding 350 so there was a lot of space. It was probably just as well because our inexperience really showed itself that night. We had not given much thought about how scenes were to be changed with the result our scene changes probably added about three quarters of an hour to the whole evening!

However by the end of the week we had slimmed down our timing and swelled our audience so we felt it had been a worthwhile venture. The Carnoustie Annual Panto was born.

During the following years we rehearsed in Church Halls, houses, attics, garages and the local Library. Our sets were built where we could get space. At one point we were given the use of a local cow shed. Our intrepid backstage team built and painted the scenery there using car headlamps for lighting We have come a long way since then and now have an extremely large and experienced team of on and offstage members. We play to a full audience in Carnoustie High Scool Theatre for a week long run .

But it is still the moments of sheer panic that come to mind easily. One year our ‘Squire’ was taken to hospital with one hour to go before the show. A chorus member was press ganged into taking his part and got round the difficulty by pasting his words in a very large cartoon covered scrap book tied round his neck and bringing this into play with hilarious results. The audience thought this was all part of the show and only realised that there was a problem when our ‘Squire’ had a speech during a stage blackout The audience loved it!

One year we had a ‘flu’ epidemic during Panto week. We had entered our panto ’Puss in Boots’ for the ‘Dore Jackson Trophy. Our ‘Puss’ came into the dressing room on the night of the adjudicator’s attendance and it was clear to see that the bug had got her. However ‘the show must go on’. She struggled her way through most of the night until her scene with the ‘baddie’. The world started to spin, his voice seemed to come from a great distance, but she struggled on. The baddie meanwhile is looking at her and thinking ‘she’s not going to make it…..she’s going to faint any minute…..should I go and help her?…….no, I’m the baddie…..I’ll wait until she hits the floor and then carry her off if I have to. They made it through to the end of the scene(just). Adjudicators comments… ‘The scene between these two characters did not quite come off’ One child in the back row of the chorus was sick over two people in front of him. Fortunately this was just at the end of the scene, and as the following scene was being played out in front of the curtains, the backstage team were frantically trying to change scenery while the rest of us were mopping up!

Sometimes things get so hectic that we ask ‘Is it worth it?’ With all the fun and joy for cast and audience alike the answer must be

‘Oh yes it is!’