AFTER the floods of Boxing Day and beyond broke the spine of Tadcaster's bridge, Tadcaster Theatre Company are responding defiantly to the town's annus horribilis by adapting their pantomime script and renaming the show Sleeping Beauty And The Broken Bridge.

"It's all set in The Parish of Taddy on the Wharfe, where Bad Witch Hazel casts a spell and the bridge falls down, so Princess Rose must get to her Prince somehow," explains publicity officer Wendy Binns, ahead of the show's run from November 22 to 26 at the Riley-Smith Hall, Tadcaster.

Scriptwriter Alan P Frayn has provided a customised version of his pantomime to bring it into 2016 Tadcaster. Before midnight on her 16th birthday, Princess Rose, played by Kelly Bolland, shall prick her finger on a spinning-wheel spindle and will die. Bad Witch Hazel (Alison Davies) knows the Princess will be moved to the other side of the river, where spinning wheels are yet to be invented, and vows to "put a stop to that.”

Whereupon she creates a terrible storm to have the ancient Wharfe bridge washed away forever, “splitting up your precious town, the night that bridge came tumbling down”.

"Obviously there'll be other references to Tadcaster and, yes, you guessed it, musical numbers such as Bridge Over Troubled Water, under the musical direction of James Rodgers," says Wendy. "There are also two Princes in this pantomime! Confused you could be, but all will be revealed."

York Press:

Bad Witch Hazel (Alison Davies) casts her spell to make the bridge fall down in the Parish of Taddy on the Wharfe. Picture: Terry Welsh

Looking forward to this topical revision of Sleeping Beauty, company chairman Catherine Marshall says: "With the current situation with the broken bridge and the town being divided in two, we thought it would be a great idea to have this year’s pantomime adapted to provide us with a fresh, up-to-date angle on an old classic.

"We're very grateful to Alan for re-writing his script at no additional charge and we'll actually be donating 50 per cent of ticket-sale profit to the Tadcaster Flood Support and Fundraising Group. We're also extremely grateful to Balfour Beatty and, especially, site manager Dave Robinson for allowing us to take promotional photographs at the bridge."

Joining Kelly Bolland, from Tadcaster, and Alison Davies, from Sherburn-In-Elmet, in the cast will be Phil Nicholls, from Batley, as King Cactus; Diane Eyers, from York, as Queen Marigold; Gordon Fawcett, from Wakefield, as Nurse Dottie Dettol; Tamsyn Chadwick, from Tadcaster, as Muddles; Louise McDonald, from Sherburn-In-Elmet, as Prince Alexis, and Jane Fawcett, from Wakefield, as Good Fairy Lilac. Tadcaster mother and daughter Joanne and Becky Hawkins will be the comedy double act Fetch and Carrie.

“As well as the traditional panto characters, we always encourage the whole cast to be more than just chorus/villagers etcetera,” says director Angela Edwards.

“So we have Harry Herald, the Town Crier, and Freddie Fanfare, the Herald trumpeter, plus Mother Superior and the little Sisters of Dazelwooh, who will make several appearances throughout the storyline. We also have a mini group of witches, Little Mixers and the Rainbow Tribe and, of course, no Tadcaster pantomime would be the same without Colin the Crow.”

Tickets are available from ticketsource.co.uk/event/146289, on 07502 506438 or at tadcastertheatrecompany.org