YORK’S ‘Great Dame’, Berwick Kaler, wants to return to panto. The 73-year-old told The Press he had made the ‘biggest mistake’ saying he was going to retire. “I want to jump out of my suit and perform,” he said.

Fellow Theatre Royal panto star Suzy Cooper has also said Berwick should return. “There is so much life in the man,” she said.

The pair were both critical of this year’s Theatre Royal pantomime. Despite writing and directing the show, Berwick admitted it hadn’t gone well. It wasn’t the cast’s fault, he insisted: it was the production values. “It’s a shame the Theatre Royal went down the route of cheap sets and cheap costumes,” he said.

Both stars say they fear for the future of the pantomime. “It’s hard to go out there singing and dancing knowing the carpet is being pulled out from underneath you,” Suzy said.

Theatre bosses have refuted the criticisms, stressing the same was spent on this year’s panto as last year. And they refused to comment on the future of Berwick’s role or of the pantomime, saying only there would be an announcement next month.

Audience reaction to this year’s panto was disappointing. Critic Charles Hutchinson described it, in his Press review, as ‘awkward, uncomfortable and indulgent’.

But it would be desperately sad for a show that has been a mainstay of York’s cultural life for decades (and which provides half the Theatre Royal’s revenue) to end like this.

We await the Theatre Royal’s announcement with interest. But if Berwick and the rest are not to return, perhaps there may be an alternative venue waiting in the wings. Over to you, Grand Opera House and Barbican...