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'It's very intimate': Behind the curtain of Britain's smallest panto

Tom Sawyer & Geoff Corani A man and woman stand on stage beneath fluorescent lights, dressed as a wolf and the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.Tom Sawyer & Geoff Corani
Tholthorpe Follies have been putting on what is thought to be Britain's smallest pantomime since 1982

It takes place in a venue that's barely bigger than someone's living room with an audience of no more than 60 people. The Tholthorpe Follies pantomime is Britain's smallest - and likely its most unique.

For the past 43 years, sold-out crowds have turned out to see the annual show in the village 12 miles from York. The population of Tholthorpe is only 200, but the Follies have managed to make the panto a major local event since 1982.

"Pantomime is important, whether it's in the big towns or tiny villages," says Graeme Thompson, the director of the company behind the show.

With only a pub and a village hall to choose from, the players opted for the hall, which is a former school, and in the early years performed on tables because they didn't have a stage.

The production has grown in reputation and ambition since its humble beginnings, and each year new ideas are tried.

Meet the stars of 'Britain's smallest panto'

Mr Thompson has written the pantomime for all but two of its 43 years, and it has evolved to include professional sound and lighting and props from a flying carpet to a dragon.

"I think people who have never been before come with quite low expectations as they look at the hall and see it's not much bigger than a phonebox, but when they leave they are pleasantly surprised," he says.

It was the BBC's Gyles Brandreth who declared that Tholthorpe was Britain's smallest panto, at the opposite end of the scale to the largest at the London Palladium.

Tom Sawyer & Geoff Corani Two women on stage mid-way through a scene, with a purple backdrop of a brick road. One woman is dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz, with a book in her hands, and the other is dressed as Glinda the Good Witch.Tom Sawyer & Geoff Corani
Despite the small venue, the producers have tried some ambitious set designs, including flying dragons and the great hall in the Wizard of Oz

"It's a very intimate experience. You're crammed in. We don't use microphones and the cast are very close to the audience. The atmosphere is very celebratory.

"It's a kind of microcosm of British pantomime," adds the veteran scriptwriter.

"We are very traditional so we have the man playing a dame, we always have a good fairy, a villain and lots of music and scenery. It's a spectacle and I think people leave feeling joyful."

Like many pantomimes, its success also helps to keep its host venue viable.

"We are the biggest event in our village in any given year, and the funds that we raise allow the hall to do other things during the year."

This year's show, Red Riding Hood, runs from January 17-25.

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