Author's Note:

When I was asked to write Rumpelstiltskin, it was the Chair of our society who was directing and he asked me to write something that was not the usual pantomime, but had most of the  traditional pantomime elements. Tough call! So I chose the story of Rumpelstiltskin and then kept the  key bits people remembered and made a much more family friendly story than the original fairytale.

What I particularly liked in the show is that the Principal girl is definitely the hero.  She is the one that goes through the trials and tribulations and saves the day with the help of the Prince. We also set it in Fairyland, so all the chorus got to be different species of fairy folk which we enjoyed a lot and the Good Fairy, was in fact the Fairy Policeman and had a vastly expanded part to a normal Good Fairy. There are some key smaller roles, which were brilliant for members of the society to get their laughs and show what they could do when they often miss out on the Principal roles, and Dame Liza Lott got to rampage everywhere. Add in a tap dancing depressed Unicorn, and Alfie the failed House Elf as link man, two Hobgoblin hench creatures (Who were strangely and hilariously welsh in our version) and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Rumpelstilskin himself and it was an absolute riot! It also won Best Original Script at the Somerset Fellowship of Drama awards and it was a very colourful and fun Panto.