Back for a fourth stupendous year – by no popular demand whatsoever!!
Hastings favourite Christmas tradition will be back for a fourth year running when John Knowles and Kate Tym take to the stage once more in A Penny Pincher’s Christmas Carol.
Kate and John of It’s Not Us Theatre Company are hoping this year’s iteration of there show will be sell-out once again: “Every year we get requests from our audiences to put it on again,” says Kate, “they tell us it wouldn’t be Christmas without A Penny Pincher’s Christmas Carol and we are more than happy to oblige!”
The show is a spin on the traditional Dicken’s story. John Knowles says: “I play Scrooge and Kate plays every other part. You get all the well-known characters – Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchett, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future… but all as you’ve never seen them before!
“It’s an alternative to the panto,” says Kate, “it’s got some panto elements in it… Oh yes it has!… but it’s also got additional layers and it’s very, very funny. And, of course, there’s the local spin too. If it’s happened in Hastings it’ll be in our show.”
The show, which is now a firm fixture on the Hastings’ cultural calendar was first performed in Christmas 2016 and ended up selling out and being raved about by audiences of all ages: “Some people came and saw it twice! There’s something in it for everyone – we’ve had an audience that was basically an eight-year old’s birthday party, so all kids, and they loved it and then we have a loyal fan-base of adults who come back every year and tell us they’ve never laughed so much. We love putting on this show because it’s just such a feel-good event, we love interacting with the audience and we’re just thrilled to bits that people actually want to make it part of their Christmas warm-up!” says Kate/
Kate and John start additional writing work on the show in October: “Every year we add in new topical stuff which we weave around the existing story… if you live in Hastings or St Leonards you’re in for a wealth of local laughs as well as other tit-bits that we gather from what’s been in the past year’s news,” says John.
Once they get in to November, prop making and rehearsing starts in earnest.
“Every year we try to make bits of it bigger and better and different to the year before, while still retaining the core story and some favourite bits that our audiences actually want to see time and time again. Plus, Kate’s got to see what other accents she can pull out of the bag – I’m not sure there’s a region she hasn’t covered!” says John.
A Penny Pincher’s Christmas Carol is certainly guaranteed to put you in the festive mood say it’s creators who boast that “not one person” leaves the show without a massive smile on their face.
There will be performances of the show at two venues this year, there’s a one-off performance at the Robertsbridge Village Hall and then a run at The White Rock Hotel and tickets have already started selling, “They are going faster than a mince pie at a Chrismas Bazaar,” says Kate.
Essential Information:
What: A Penny Pincher’s Christmas Carol
When: December 23rd, 24th, 27th and 28th at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Where: The White Rock Hotel (Downstairs Bar)
Cost: Adult £13, Conc £10, Carer £5, Family ticket £32 (2 adults 2 kids/1 adult 3 kids)
And on Sunday December 29th at 5pm in Robertsbridge Village Hall
Tickets HYPERLINK “https://rap.org.uk/” https://rap.org.uk/
Here’s what we said about last year’s show…
Have you listened to The Hastings Podcast yet?
