Ben's Feline Fine At Panto Time

IF you’re as excited about panto season as most of us, you’ll be delighted to hear that the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham has another cracker lined up.

- Candia McKormack

This year they’re promising the biggest and the best with their tale of a Gloucestershire lad going from zero to hero – of course, it’s none other than Dick Whittington.

With the cast including slapstick hero Tweedy the Clown, and Molly McGuire as Dick Whittington, the show will be packed with thrills, spills, laughs and songs for us all to sing along to. Plus, this year there’s a new kid on the block as actor Ben Goffe joins the cast as Tommy the Cat – fresh from his run at the RSC!

We pulled up a chair, cracked open a bottle of gold top, and asked Ben to give us the lowdown on being in Harry Potter, acting with the RSC, and playing a talking, singing and dancing cat…

How have rehearsals been going, Ben?

They’re going really well thanks! We’ve got three weeks of rehearsals which, for panto, is a joy (some companies only have one week!), and Phil Clark (our director) has got a great system. Week one is all about working on Act 1, week two is all about Act 2, then week three will be about cleaning certain parts and running the show as a whole.

How are you getting on with the rest of the cast? Have you and Tweedy hit it off?