Shavington Panto’s prestigious National Operative and Dramatic Association award, has left cast and crew thirsty for more success, writes Sara Royle.
The NODA accolade came just three short months after they took to the stage to perform their 2015 show, ‘The Pantomime Voyages of Sinbad’.
The award, though, was for Shavington’s 2014 production of ‘Robin Hood’, and it scooped the ‘Best Pantomime North West Region’ ahead of 40 other nominations.
And considering NODA has a membership of 2,500 amateur theatre groups, it’s a pretty impressive achievement.
The Shavington group has been around since 1977, but this was only the fourth nomination that they have received.
Adam Goode, who has been involved in five Shavington pantomimes, said a nomination in itself was a “huge achievement”.
“It’s funny because every year we put on a panto, we are told it’s the best ever!” he says.
“I think Robin Hood was a special year for us.
“We had a fantastic script, with such a good story and so much potential for comedy and had such a strong cast and song choices.”
However, the performance wasn’t without its challenges.
Two of the main cast missed performances due to illness.
“Rachel (the director) had to fill in on two nights,” added Adam.
“But the show must go on as they say!”
It seems that the NODA representative was still suitably impressed, despite the hiccups.
Adam feels like the ‘Robin Hood’ performance has now “set a benchmark” for the future.
He says they saw a “major boost in ticket sales” for their 2015 production, and thinks the society “can only go from strength to strength”.
As for next year, he can’t reveal too much about what we can expect from the society.
“We are currently short-listing potential scripts for our 2016 show, but nothing confirmed as yet.”
He can confirm, however, that he would love to be involved in what will be his sixth show.
To find out more about how you can get involved with the annual pantomime, visit http://www.svfc.info/
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