Wadhurst Dramatic Club delights its virtual audiences with its pantozoom

Written by Amanda Dann, Xan Kite and Russ Kirton, it was directed by Russ Kirton and performed by members of the Wadhurst Dramatic Club to offer a bright end to a dismal year.

Xan said: “It became a really big hit through just local social media postings with over 750 viewings in just a week.

“And we know lots of those viewings have been households sitting together to watch as a holiday treat and so the audience must have been over 1,000 in these first few days.

“And it is going up every day.

“We’ve had really great comments and praise and people sharing it and passing the link on to their friends and family because they’ve enjoyed it so much!

“It’s a really good laugh about 2020 and people have said they laugh so much they worry about missing the next joke.

“We’re so pleased with the brilliant comments.

“It is itself a lovely story, written by three local people, involving 17 local actors, four local musicians, local people making and gathering costumes, scenery and puppet bibs – all recorded from our homes by zoom.

“The authors laughed at all the writing meetings and the rehearsals and filming sessions were an absolute joy and kept everyone’s spirits up through the lockdown – a really positive thing coming out of social distancing that we would never otherwise have tried!

“And then on top of that, it has been so highly praised with people loving it, spreading smiles from us to our audience reaching out across the south-east and beyond!

“It is just the treat everyone needs just now.

“Specially designed to be recorded on Zoom with all the actors safely acting within their homes, it is funny and topical, with costumes and colours, crazy characters and fun and music.

“There is an unusual princess, amazing double-faced mirror, seven dear little Zoomies (navigating the rule of six), talking animals, evil Queen in PPE, crazy narrator and exasperated prompt, funny use of the screen boxes and layered recordings of musicians and singers.

“We had a wide range people from Wadhurst and the villages around having such a good time working together and making something we are really proud of.”