{"id":89,"date":"2025-08-12T16:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suebirch.com\/?page_id=89"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:22:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:22:25","slug":"theatre-britain","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/suebirch.com\/index.php\/theatre-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Little Slice Of Britain In Texas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly one area theater has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II hanging in the lobby …\u201d The Dallas Morning News, June 2002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It started as one of those \u201cLet\u2019s put on a show!\u201d moments, with four British women sitting around having a cup of tea and saying, \u201cThere is no panto around here, let\u2019s put one on.\u201d Six months later, we were performing at the Plaza Theatre in Carrollton and, during the week, we were touring schools.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Barebones scenery, cheap and cheerful costumes and wigs bought from a Halloween store. Our first show, in 1996, was ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, followed by ‘Cinderella’ in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time we went dark at the end of 2017, we were a fixture on the North Texas theatre scene, with full seasons of high-quality productions for a wide range of ages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1997 Panto. ‘Cinderella’ by Jackie Mellor-Guin, Mark Shum as Entsheawful, Maia Peters as Cinderella, Steve Freedman as Enchilda. Photo: Julian Noel Photography. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We always went out of our way to be authentic. Paper props were A4 or other UK sizes. We brought in light switches, sockets, UK plugs, empty cigarette boxes (those health warnings!), comics, electrical appliances and more from the UK. Plus when you poured a cup of tea on stage, there was always steam. And, in one memorable moment, the stage manager hoovered the stage during the interval by plugging it into a UK socket!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2008 Panto. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ by Jackie Mellor-Guin. Kevin Keating as Mother Hood, Danielle Pickard as Charlie The Chopper. Set Design by Darryl P Clement. Costume Design by Robin Armstrong. Photo: Mark Trew.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2010 panto. ‘Babes In The Wood’ by Jackie Mellor-Guin. Marla Jo Kelly as Paige Turner, Ivan Jones as Governess Amplebottom. Set Design by Darryl P Clement. Costume Design by Tory Padden. Photo: Mark Trew.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\nProduction History<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From 2003 all our productions featured music by local composers. And from 2010 our production artwork was designed by a local artist. In this promo video – artwork by Gretchen Goetz, music by Aaron Fryklund.<\/p>\n\n\n