"Beautiful" Elgin pantomime to revamp Danish folk tale which inspired Frozen, led by EADS
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THIS year’s annual pantomime from the Elgin Amateur Dramatic Society (EADS) is bringing audiences a little-known tale “with friendship at the heart of it”.
The troupe is putting on five shows at Elgin Town Hall, from Wednesday, December 6 to Saturday, December 9 with a final-day matinee.
Evenings shows will start at 7.30pm, with a final-day matinee at 2pm.
The Snow Queen, a traditional tale, served as the original inspiration for the film Frozen.
However, EADS stalwart and Buckie High School drama teacher Amanda Craib has reworked the fairytale into a unique pantomime experience which has been being rehearsed since August.
Writing and directing the show, she said, was “quite a bit of work” and turning it into a family-friendly panto was a “tricky” task.
The tale follows the Snow Queen, the tale’s villain, in her bid to make it winter forever.
However, to achieve this, she needs to find a young boy of pure heart to complete a task for her.
That leads her to kidnap Kai, played by Declan Thomas, which prompts his Granny and best friend Gerda, played by Declan’s sister Gemma, to set off in an urgent pursuit.
And playing Granny, Kim McIntyre also has the honour of becoming EADS’ first female dame.
Director Mrs Craib said she had "a lot of fun" working with Kim to figure out how to keep the "cheekiness and flirtiness that a dame can have" with a woman in the role.
Naomi Bunyan, meanwhile, will be showing off her villainous talents as the Snow Queen.
Also essential to the show is Mrs Craib’s husband Kenny, who is taking on stage manager responsibilities.
Choreographers Alwyn Valentine and Melinda McLennan and musical director Angus Hull also key to making the show as smooth as possible.
"It's looking like it's going to be a very beautiful and a magical pantomime,” Mrs Craib said.
"We've kind of pushed ourselves a wee bit to bring something a bit more grand.
"We've got a great audience that come to see us regularly as part of their Christmas tradition, and it's nice to bring them something new.”
Adult tickets are £14 and concessions are £12.
Tickets are available through Ticketsource and at a Box Office at Elgin Town Hall with more information on EADS Facebook and Instagram pages.
Parties of 10 or more can receive a 10 per cent discount.
