Buttons' Dream: A New Pantomime

Updates from the production

13 Nov 2024

As the Christmas season approaches, Twyford Drama’s panto preparations are coming along like a dream! The whole “Buttons’ Dream” team is diving into this brand new pantomime with gusto, working hard to bring writer and director Emma Cianchi’s exciting vision to life.

With a plethora of traditional pantomime characters and fun modern additions, the enthusiastic and experienced cast is masterfully getting to grips with their varied roles, from princesses to life coaches, baddies to living statues, injecting their own personalities along with a whole lot of typical panto overacting!

The chorus are busy singing their hearts out and dancing their socks off to a host of creatively choreographed upbeat numbers, while the terrific costume team is labouring away cutting and sewing, crafting incredible outfits for our merry band of performers.

Tasked with creating ‘Pantoland’ on the Loddon Hall stage, the behind-the-scenes experts are also hard at work; Twyford Drama’s Sunday morning set building sessions are seeing a flurry of activity with beautiful backdrops being painted, impressive set pieces carefully constructed and vital props styled and gathered.

There’s no rest for the sound and lighting technicians either, with sound effects being expertly edited and lighting schemes deftly designed for each scene.

All that’s left is for you to book your tickets, get practising your boos and hisses and join us on this enchanting adventure! 

 - Emma Cianchi (director and script writer)

16 Dec 2024

Twyford Drama Gears Up For Panto World Premiere

It’s not long to go until Twyford Drama takes to the stage once again for a brand new show, “Buttons’ Dream”, which promises to be a dazzling display of entertainment for all the family. Written especially for the group by local playwright and Twyford Drama member Emma Cianchi, this enchanting script transports us into Pantoland, the home of all pantomime characters, where the goodies always win and the baddies always lose – for now, at least…

As the Pantoland clock ticks ever closer to opening night, the brilliant behind the scenes crew have been dreaming up and executing ingenious ideas to make all the panto magic happen. Twyford Drama’s promotion fairies have also been hard at work putting up magical posters and banners around the local area, as well as kicking off a fun social media campaign. Local media outlets have been very supportive too, with great press coverage for the production.

Meanwhile, down at rehearsals, lines have been learnt, songs and dances mastered, and custard pies prepped! Prince Charming is busy preening so he’s ready to meet his adoring audience, Dame Dainty Dora is already on the lookout for her next husband and Buttons is settling in for a good night’s sleep. But will Fairy TikTok manage to keep everything running to time – and everyone on script – or are dark forces at work ready to disrupt the carefully maintained balance in Pantoland, perhaps forever?

Don’t miss your chance to be one of the first to see this exciting modern fable – book your tickets now!

9 Jan 2025

When I first volunteered to write and direct this year’s pantomime for Twyford Drama way back in late 2022, I’d only just dreamt up the idea of Buttons’ Dream. January 2025 seemed a world away – plenty of time to write a script from scratch; assemble a production team; create a set, costumes and props; organise sound and lighting; cast the parts; rehearse and be ready and raring to perform to our appreciative audiences. However, of course, despite my best intentions to complete the script quickly , things didn’t quite go according to plan, and life – as it has a habit of doing – got in the way. With the majority of 2023 taken over with the house buying and selling process alongside wedding preparations – it was a big year for me! – much less writing got done than I’d hoped, so I came into 2024 with a script that was a long way off finished. Thus followed a lot of late nights writing and editing until April, when I finally had a full first draft.

Over the following months, as I continued tweaking my script, I started getting my excellent behind the scenes team on board, who jumped into creative mode and began sourcing sound effects, choreographing dances, planning out the set design, thinking about costumes, and so on and so forth. But the real work didn’t fully kick into action until mid-October.

In the space of just three months, Buttons’ Dream has gone from a script to a show: auditions were held, the parts were cast, scenes were rehearsed, lines were learnt, songs and dances were practised, the set was built and painted, props were gathered and made, costumes were sewn, sound clips were edited and the lighting was planned. In summary: a lot of hard work and a lot of energy were put in by all involved. And now here we are, just days from opening night!

Currently, with one week to go, we are busy putting the finishing touches to the pantomime, focusing in rehearsals on the little details and upping the pace. The next few days will also see the Loddon Hall stage transformed into Pantoland as our set is erected. This will be followed by our technical rehearsal, where we focus on the technical parts of the show: the sound, lighting, scene changes and so on. After that, we have a dress rehearsal, running the show in full costume and makeup. And then it’s on to the actual performances!

At this point, the pantomime fully transfers ownership from me to the cast and crew – the production is now theirs and, as the director, I take a step back and can just enjoy watching all their hard work- and mine- come to fruition.

Suffice to say, Buttons’ Dream has evolved dramatically over this whole journey and seeing my script gradually brought to life over the past few months has been a real honour. I am immensely proud of the whole Buttons’ Dream team for all the hard work and creativity they have put into this pantomime. I can’t wait to see the finished show next week and I only hope our audiences enjoy watching it as much as I will.

 - Emma Cianchi (director and script writer)