Lighthouse presents
SLEEPING BEAUTY
Your dream pantomime
THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER – SUNDAY 5 JANUARY
Various times (THEATRE)
Suitable for all ages
Tickets and information 01202 280000
Just as panto season ends one year and begins the next, for actor Isabella Kibble, who is appearing in the title role of Sleeping Beauty at Lighthouse Poole this Christmas, it completes the circle on the first phase of her career before opening the door to whatever comes next.
“I’ve not been in a panto since I was a child, so I’m really excited to do one now as an adult,” she explains.
“I just remember it being the most magical experience ever and looking up to the older cast members and seeing how they bring the magic of Christmas alive with the songs, and the way the story is written just bringing joy to people. That was also my first professional job so it’s nice to be able now to have a bit of a full circle moment and play Sleeping Beauty.”
Isabella has been on the showbiz path since a young age, joining English Youth Ballet at the age of ten, before training in Musical Theatre at Guildford School of Acting and landing her first major West End role in Lucy Bailey’s acclaimed adaptation of Witness for the Prosecution.
“That was my first big job – performing in the West End was a dream come true and the show was such a unique and special experience. Obviously, Sleeping Beauty is so, so different from an Agatha Christie play. That’s the most amazing thing about being an actor – you can be in an Agatha Christie one day then the next day you’re Sleeping Beauty!”
From the same team that created the award-winning Lighthouse pantomimes Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and last year’s Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty stars Todd Carty as the King, with CBeebies favourite Chris Jarvis – whose also wrote and directs the show – as Dame alongside production designer James Smith, choreographer Daniel Donaldson Todd and musical director Adam Tuffrey.
“Chris didn’t give a lot of specifics away beforehand,” says Isabella. “I knew that she had to hide on Brownsea Island, but that was about it. I resonated with the feistiness of her – I like to see a young woman being portrayed in that light. It is definitely the sort of role model that young girls and people need to look up to.
“But from our first meeting, Chris was very enthusiastic about it and I felt very involved. Even in that first meeting, Chris and the team were very willing to just create and work with me, I felt a real buzz from the team. I’d done a lot of research about the Poole panto and how it looked really cool and was really inclusive of the community, so I came away from the meeting with a real idea of how they craft the panto every year.”
Panto-loving actors warmly embrace everything that goes hand-in-hand with a most peculiarly British artform, including being away from home at Christmas, something that Isabella is keenly aware of.
“I’m quite used to working around Christmas time even though you only get Christmas Day off, but my family will definitely come and watch me, my partner will come and watch me, my nan will come and watch me. They all live in Bromley, where I’m from. I actually have a couple of friends who live in London, but are originally from Bournemouth, and they are spending Christmas with their families so I’ll have a little network of friends that will come and see me in Sleeping Beauty as well, so I’m looking forward to that.
“My parents are very excited. My dad always said to me if you enjoy what you do as a job, you’ll never work a day in your life. And he’s right!”
As for what she does next, Isabella is happy to just wait and see, but she has several strings to her bow… and probably knows how to fire them as well.
“I’m open to doing lots of things so we’ll see, but I was lucky enough to do combat training at college. I trained in unarmed combat, knife, sword and staff, which was the coolest one. It was massive, twice the size of me, so if it came about again, I’d get stuck into that. If Game of Thrones got made on stage, then sign me up, I love Game of Thrones.
“For now, though, I’m super excited to spend my Christmas doing Sleeping Beauty and then see where that takes me.”