LOOK BEHIND YOU

by Wain, Daniel

This tragicomic panto-within-a-play is set over the holiday period at a crumbling provincial theatre, chronicling both the on and off stage lives of the cast and crew of a repertory production of Dick Whittington that is rapidly going downhill, even on the opening night. Among the many delightful characters are Anastasia Crabbe, a fading movie star now playing Fairy Bow Bells; an actor fresh from drama school applying his classical training to Idle Jack; Bernie the has-been puppeteer increasingly venting his frustrations on Pistachio, his puppet Monkey; a weather girl-turned-leading lady who is soon way in over her head as she competes with a savvy chorus girl for the attentions of Jake Caffery, the boy band lead singer playing Dick Whittington. Holding the show together - both on and off stage - are Maggie the stage manager and Tom, the theatre’s owner who also plays Sarah the Cook. Since the death of his partner the previous year, Tom has been trying to keep the theatre afloat, but external financial pressures and the increasing antics backstage are a poignant counterpoint to the hilarious antics interspersed onstage during the pantomime.