This week's news from the Coliseum...

Last week I told you about our fantastic panto chorus, which is made up of two teams of nine girls who work alternate days during the pantomime run. They are all looked after by a team of dedicated chaperones. The Coliseum employs a team of six chaperones each year who work in shifts to support and organise the girls over the three months they are with us. Half of their role is to make sure that the girls are on stage in the right costume at the right time and the other half is to ensure the wellbeing and happiness of the teams.

As I mentioned last week the chorus give up a lot of their time to be part of the Coliseum panto and the chaperones aren’t exactly working the usual office hours (and they don’t get to wear a fairy outfit). They fit their shifts at the theatre around their other responsibilities like university and jobs. With the teams made up of very different ages, ranging from 8 – 15 years, thinking of things to entertain all of them is a bit of a tough job. The chaperones also provide a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk through things with – it’s incredibly important that the girls have emotional support throughout their time at the Coliseum.

At the moment the over 12s are doing an Arts Award which is an accreditation that recognises a young person’s achievement in taking part in an arts project. There are four parts to the award; they’ll write about their experience in the panto, review a play, lead a dance class and write about someone in the arts that inspires them. Other activities that the girls have been up to include making Christmas cards and a post box for them to go in, making fruity cocktails and a fairy for the Christmas tree. The tree takes pride of place in their dressing room and as there are two teams, each one gets to decorate half of the Christmas tree – that’s democracy for you. They also get to watch a great deal of festive films in the cosy DVD corner. All of these activities are thought up and organised by the chaperones as well as making sure that the girls are suited and booted on time for their next entrance on stage.

The chaperones are just as important as any other aspect of the panto and we couldn’t do it without them.

See you at the theatre.
Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director