Shawnigan Players Presents: Santa In Space! A Christmas Pantomime
Schedule
Fri, 26 Dec, 2025 at 07:00 pm to Wed, 31 Dec, 2025 at 04:00 pm
UTC-08:00Location
Cowichan Valley, British Columbia | Duncan, BC
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Come join the Shawnigan Players for this year‘s Christmas pantomime: Santa in Space written in 1985 by Paul Reakes; Directed by Laura Sirmul, produced by Bill Levity.
Vileun the Vile, played by the iconic Alex Gallacher, desires to be the Supreme Master of the Universe. In order to achieve his aims, he decides that Santa (aka Atnas, the professor and crazy inventor played by the loveable Rob Foell) must be kidnapped as a way to get the Earthlings to go along with his dastardly evil plan. Our heroes: The Dame, played with epic comedic talent by Dan Leckey and Her, capital H! amazing entourage of the very young and small, PLUS a Robot! as well as the principal boy and the principal girl. They all rocket up to outer space to save him! What will happen in this mad cap adventure, full of sing-along, popular songs? Come and enjoy some escapist fantasy with colourful outrageous wackiness built in! Look forward to aliens and monsters, magic and mayhem. Fun for the whole family, from the very young to the very old.
We are honoured to have young players from the Chalkboard Theatre legacy along with Cathy Schmidt as our skilled choreographer. We are also grateful to have Lara Brunshot of the Spinning Ninny as choreographer and Lily Wilson as dance captain. You will also recognize some of your favourite players from the summer Shakespeare Festival!
This year we are offering, at the beginning of the panto, a short Scottish folktale retelling called 'The Tales of Conall Cra Bhuidhe’ written and directed by our very own Joshua Farquharson!
Shows Run: Dec 26-31 at the Duncan United Church, 246 Ingram
Evening Shows: Dec 26, 29, 30 at 7pm, doors 6:30 Matinees: Dec 27, 28, 31 at 2pm, doors 1:30
Tickets to be found online at shawniganplayers.com and Ten Old Books
Adults: 20$ 18 and under: 10$ 2 and under Free
The Shawnigan Players were first introduced to Pantomime in 2005 by the wonderfully talented Josephine Rose, who with her able sidekick Bruce Stevens brought everyone a lot of joy with Cinderella, followed in 2006 by Snow White and The Seven Dwarves. This year marks the fifteenth Panto since our beginning.
Pantomime or 'Panto' as we affectionately call it is a form of interactive theatre performed around the Christmas season for millions of famillies around the world. Many of the stories are based on popular if slightly skewed well known fairy tales.
The origins of Panto date back to the middle ages. It blends traditions of the Italian Commedia dell Arte with British 'OldTime' Music Hall. Commedia dell Arte was travelling street entertainment, which came from Italy in the 16th Century. It was a very energetic type of theatre that combined dance, music, tumbling, acrobatics and slapstick comedy. The troupes performed in fairs and marketplaces. They were often made up of family members who would inherit their
characters, costumes, masks and stories from their parents or grandparents.
Audience participations is probably one of the most important elements of the Pantomime tradition. The audience is actively encouraged to Cheer for the Heroes and Boo the Villain whenever he or she enters. Heckling is also encouraged and original jokes are included to rib local dignitaries.
Come out and enjoy this raucous entertainment with us, to blow your yuletide Blahs away.
"Beep Beep!" says Roberta the Robot, “see you there!”
https://shawnigan-players.tickit.ca/
https://shawniganplayers.com/
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Where is it happening?
Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, Duncan, British Columbia, CanadaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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