Actors love to play the villain and, if we’re honest, the best villains are the ones we’d all like to be… at least just a little bit!
Sarah-Louise Young can’t wait to unleash her dark side in Sleeping Beauty this Christmas at Lighthouse where she plays Carabosse, the bad fairy who casts a spell that will send Princess Rose to sleep.
“It’s going to be such good fun,” she says.
“To make a really good villain, the audience should be looking forward to seeing them and hating them at the same time. There’s so much humour in pantomime, but also you have to have that darkness in a panto for the story to matter. If there’s no real sense of potential impending doom then you don’t get the buy-in and you want kids to be on the edge of their seats, not being sure if good will out.”
Sarah-Louise is a fan of panto: “It’s dress up, what’s not to love? You get to dress up and scare children – although I do love children, I’ve got two stepsons, aged 13 and 18, I try not to frighten them too much!”
As much as she relishes extracting the biggest boos and hisses from the audience, there’s a special secret reason that Sarah-Louise is looking forward to her panto run in Poole.
“Have you seen the costume? Oh my goodness, I know I’m going to look absolutely amazing!
“And it’s comfortable! I’ve had so many costumes that are uncomfortable, but with this costume I could wear my pyjamas underneath it!”
Sleeping Beauty is the latest in a run of award-winning in-house productions at Lighthouse written and directed by Chris Jarvis, who also plays the Dame, with production designer James Smith, choreographer Daniel Donaldson Todd and musical director Adam Tuffrey. There’s a strong sense of continuity that characterises the Poole panto and Sarah-Louise is no stranger to Lighthouse, having played the Theatre before during a stint with Fascinating Aida and in the highly acclaimed tribute show, An Evening Without Kate Bush.
“I only did a year with Fascinating Aida while Liza [Pulman] had some time off – I am their emergency break glass soprano – but I’m certain we came to Poole and it was because of the Kate Bush show that I was cast in panto.
“Poole is a lovely part of the world and I’m really looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year there. As someone who makes their own work, obviously I’m on my own a lot, so one of the wonderful things about panto is I get to be part of a company again, which is really enjoyable.”
Sarah-Louise’s many other credits include Julie, Madly, Deeply in honour of Julie Andrews and The Silent Treatment, a deeply autobiographical piece in which she explored the connection between losing her voice and childhood trauma. Partly as a result of that piece she co-founded the Solo Female And Female Identifying Theatremakers Collective with Victoria Melody to support to solo creatives, as well as share resources and demystify the process of self-producing.
“I’ve worked in solo theatre for a long time and after connecting with Victoria on social media we set the group up and thought we might attract 100 or so members, but we now have over 800 around the world – it’s kind of what I wished had existed 25 years ago when I started making solo work.
“What’s really lovely is seeing people share experiences and support each other. At the Edinburgh Fringe this year, there was about 75 of our group up there doing shows, many of them for the first time, some of them coming from overseas. We had a WhatsApp support group and I organised some in-person drop-ins, available not just for women. A safe space for people to talk a broad range of experiences – whether positive or challenging.”
“During the year we have held online advice sessions, which we recorded and have made available as a resource for emerging and established theatremakers. It’s part of the Collective’s ethos to share resources.
“We can share our experience both of making the work and touring as a solo woman – things like how you manage budgets, if you’re making autobiographical work, when are you ready to tell that story? Often people are tight for funds, but we’ve found we can trade resources, so for example, if you’ve written a solo show, it can be helpful to hear someone else read your work. Members of our group can offer that service for each other, being an outside eye to the process.
“It’s also just nice to know that if you’re stressed or tired or having a tough day you’re not on your own, there are people who are going through the same thing.”
All of which helps explains the special attraction of panto season to someone who is often a solo performer.
“I absolutely adore panto – that feeling of everyone pulling together and making something magical. It’s my first Christmas away from my husband and I think he may try to come down, or we’ll spend the entire day on Facetime, but what’s nice is the company share a house so I’m looking forward to that sense of belonging together… I suspect we’ll do something on Christmas Day!”
:: Sleeping Beauty opens on Thursday 12 December and runs until Sunday 5 January. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/sleeping-beauty/ or call 01202 280000.
(NC)