Hurstpierpoint Players premiere their first-ever online panto this Christmas Eve

Their annual (usually live) panto is a huge part of the year for the company.

And they were determined not to be beaten by the circumstances we all find ourselves in.

Plenty of companies have had to abandon all thoughts of a festive production.

But Hurstpierpoint Players have instead gone virtual, with their filmed version of Robin Hood premiering on Christmas Eve and running through until January 1.

You can watch online on the Players’ YouTube channel at 3pm each day. A number of the days also have a 7pm screening. Find out how to watch on https://hurstplayers.org.uk/?robin-hood

Written by Warren McWilliams, the play has been directed by Sam Nixon and Annette Squire.

Sue Wicks, a long-standing member who has just been appointed membership secretary, joins the panto as a “wandering minstrel who can’t sing”.

“We do a panto every Christmas and it is our biggest seller really. It is very, very popular in the village, and we involve lots of children and do ten performances.

“Sam approached Annette, who is our chairman, and said that she was prepared and willing to take on a virtual panto. She is herself an actress and had been involved in the Hurst Festival. She had done a couple of films for the Hurst Festival back in September which was also online. It was very popular on YouTube and got lots of hits and she had the idea of doing panto. She thought she could do it and manage to film it herself. I don’t think she had realised what she had taken on. It is a huge cast with lots of children. The youngest is about eight, if not younger, and the oldest in the cast is about 88. There are about 30 in the cast in all.

“But what she has done has been a tremendous achievement. She chose Robin Hood because obviously a lot of it could be filmed outside. She had started to film bits before the second lockdown, and she was just so wonderfully organised. She had small groups and she filmed in tiny bits.”

She finished in time to give herself a week to edit it all before the first showing on Christmas Eve.

“When people watch it, there will be a donate button, and if you enjoy it and if you think we are good enough, you can donate!”

Sue and all the company are delighted to be able to do something in this horrible year: “I think people are crying out for something entertaining, for something that is local. It involves the young and the old from the village, and it is just pure entertainment to make people happy.”

The irony is that the Players, who own their own theatre and had just refurbished it, couldn’t actually use their own premises.

“The last show we did was the last panto in January this year, and then since then the theatre has had to go dark. We have not been able to put on any of the other three plays that we had planned to put on, but we hope to be able to put them on next year.

“This is my main hobby. I love it. I have been acting ever since I was a little girl at school. I moved into the village in 1981 and what’s when I first joined the players. I was so happy to see that there was a company there.

“We are going to be putting on an Acykbourn in March. I think people are going to be ready for something amusing. Whether that will be live in the theatre or not, we don’t know, but now that we have managed to film this panto, we know we can film it if we have to. We are not going to be beaten!”