Familiar faces return for panto!

Everyone’s favourite pantomime duo are back together again for 2023's traditional family pantomime, Cinderella.

Julian Eardley and Ed Thorpe - who are set to play Fairy Godmother and Buttons respectively - last appeared together in 2021's Aladdin when they played Widow Twanky and Wishee Washee.

Their double act was formed in 2017's Peter Pan as Smee and Mrs Smee. Peter Pan was Ed's panto debut, for which he was nominated for Best Songsheet Performance at the Great British Pantomime Awards.

Audiences were thrilled when the pair returned for the next five years – including in 2020 for Four Dames in Search of a Panto, a special Christmas show created to follow the pandemic's social distancing guidelines.

Since then, Julian has won more hearts following his endearing portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in last year's The Wizard of Oz – his 13th panto with us; while his year also included giving a lecture on life as a panto dame to The Art Workers' Guild in London and hosting panto bingo at a local festival.

Meanwhile, last year Ed toured the UK and Ireland as part of the cast of The Commitments and performed in Rude Mechanical Theatre Company's Gods and Dogs – about a dystopian world set in 2084 where people are either glam celebs or slobbering dog-like followers.

We welcome them back and look forward to more heartfelt jokes and tomfoolery both!

Further casting for this year's panto will be announced soon.

Cinderella is brought to the stage by the same team behind last year's record-breaking panto, The Wizard of Oz – award nominees, writer, director and lyricist James Barry and composer Simon Slater.

Cinderella runs from Thursday 30 November 2023 to Monday 01 January 2024.