Full Cast and Creatives Announced for The Gaiety's 2024 Panto

Performing at Ayr Gaiety from 22nd November 2024 – 4th January 2025.

Ayr Gaiety Theatre is delighted to announce the cast and creatives of our 2024 pantomime, Mother Goose, featuring a host of both new talent and returning favourites.

Following two years of 5-star reviewed productions with 2022’s Sleeping Beauty, and 2023’s Cinderella, we’re delighted to welcome back writing team Ken Alexander and Fraser Boyle to put their original spin on a beloved family favourite.

Mother Goose is a good egg, the most giving of souls. Salt of the earth and kind to a fault, she would give you her last ha’penny if you needed it. But when her faultless generosity lands her neck deep in the stinking Ayrshire proverbial, it will take a touch of eggs-ellent panto magic to help save her Ayrshire bacon. In these tough times, who could turn down a goose that lays golden eggs? But will it really help her, or will it set her down a path towards eggs-treme greed and vanity? You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs after all…

Fraser Boyle will be starring in the lead role as pantomime’s most famous dame, Mother Goose. He’ll be joined by a stellar cast of Scottish performers with a diverse range of credits, including returning favourites Gavin Jon Wright, Chiara Sparkes, Dani Heron, and Rachel Campbell, and newcomers to The Gaiety Jamie McKillop, Gregor John Owen, Ciara Flynn, and Lewis Kerr. This will also mark The Gaiety’s first in-house production to include actors delivering performances in both BSL and spoken English throughout. Bea Webster and Benedetta Zanetti will be delivering performances featuring a combination of BSL, Sign Supported English, and Visual Vernacular, while other cast members perform in spoken English. Fully BSL-Interpreted performances will also be available again this year, along with captioned, audio-described, and relaxed performances.

The production will be supported by theatre company Solar Bear. Solar Bear work collaboratively with deaf and hearing actors, theatre makers, artists and young people, promoting inclusion, and reaching out to those often excluded from the arts.

Written by Fraser Boyle and Ken Alexander, Directed by Ken Alexander. Music by Stuart William Fleming, Choreography by Sarah Wilkie, Costume and prop design by Alisa Kalyanova and costume supervision by Ailsa Munro, Set by Mark Walters (Glitter Pantomimes), Lighting Design by Wayne Dowdeswell, Sound Design by Fraser Butler-Milroy

__________________________________________________________________

Cast Profiles

Fraser Boyle (He/Him) is Mother Goose. Actor, Writer and Director Fraser has been co-writing The Gaiety panto since 2019. His acting credits include The Devil on Wheels (Nutshell, Scottish tour), Goldilocks Goes to Greece & Jack and the Bean Pie (Oran Mor), and Aladdin (Palace Theatre Kilmarnock). In 2019 Fraser was nominated as ‘Best Dame’ by the UK Pantomime Association – he’ll be reprising his role as Gaiety panto dame for the third year in a row with Mother Goose, following starring turns in Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. His other recent writing credits include The Dolls Abroad and Hen Night Horror – co-written with Ali Cleland, which toured Scotland in summer 2024, including dates at The Pavilion Glasgow, and The Gaiety.

Jamie McKillop (He/Him) is Kelvie Goose. Actor and singer Jamie’s recent credits include Unfortunate – The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (Wild Park Entertainment), Break My Windows (A Play, A Pie and A Pint), and The Dolls – A Rerr Terr (Robert C Kelly). This will be Jamie’s first appearance in The Gaiety pantomime.

Chiara Sparkes (She/Her) is Alice Goose. Chiara’s recent theatre credits include Bridezilla and the Orchard of Sin (A Play, A Pie and A Pint), Tally’s Blood (Scottish Tour), and Beauty & The Beast (Eastwood Theatre). She is also co-director of Scottish Musical Theatre partnership Drive. This will be her second time in The Gaiety panto, having held the titular role in 2022’s Sleeping Beauty – she also held a lead role in 2023’s co-production of Tally’s Blood with The Gaiety, Perth Theatre and Cumbernauld Theatre.

Gavin Jon Wright (He/Him) is Hugo McNumptie. Gavin’s recent theatre credits include VL (Edinburgh Fringe), Nae Expectations (Tron Theatre), and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (Royal Lyceum & US tour). Gavin is a returning favourite at The Gaiety panto, having appeared in Jack & The Beanstalk (2019), Jamie & The Unicorn (2021), Sleeping Beauty (2022) and Cinderella (2023).

Bea Webster (They/Them) is Angel. Actor, Writer and Theatre-maker Bea’s recent acting credits include Dungeons, Dragons & The Quest for D*** (A Play, A Pie and A Pint), Galatea (Brighton Festival) and Medea (National Theatre of Scotland). Recent writing includes Joy(Stick) (Unmuted Productions) and Is This A Fairytale (Wonder Fools). They were nominated for Best Actor in the 2019 Stage Debut Awards for their performance in Mother Courage and Her Children. This will be their first appearance at the Ayr Gaiety.

Dani Heron (She/Her) is Diavola. Dani’s recent theatre credits include Radiant Vermin and Underwood Lane (Tron Theatre), 90 Days, Adults (Traverse Theatre), Tally’s Blood (Ayr Gaiety, Perth Theatre & Cumbernauld Theatre), and The Golden Rage (A Play, A Pie and A Pint). This will be Dani’s first Gaiety panto appearance, however she held a leading role in 2023’s co-production of Tally’s Blood with The Gaiety, Perth and Cumbernauld Theatres.

Rachel Campbell (She/Her) is Mandy (Ensemble Member). Actor and singer Rachel’s credits include A Christmas Carol (Citizen’s Theatre), Navigator of the Seas (Royal Caribbean), Mickey and the Wondrous Book (Hong Kong Disneyland), Cinderella (South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture). This will be her second year at The Gaiety, following her appearance as Sally in 2023’s Cinderella.

Gregor John-Owen (They/He) is Mac (Ensemble Member). Gregor is a new graduate of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, with performance credits including Revolting (Wonder Fools, Traverse Theatre) Sweet Charity, Urinetown (Actor-Muso), and Into The Woods. This will be their first appearance at the Ayr Gaiety.

Ciara Flynn (She/Her) is Mandy (Ensemble Member). Ciara is a recent graduate of the Glasgow Academy of Music Theatre Arts. Her recent credits include Maw Goose (Macrobert Arts Centre), and Cinderella (Eastwood Park Theatre). This will be her first appearance at Ayr Gaiety.

Benedetta Zanetti (She/Her) is Margherita. Actor, director and writer Benedetta is a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her recent credits include Funnybones (SFTW). Dreams & Nightmares R&D (Imaginate), Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Through Time (Theatre-Rites) and Creatures (Imaginate/Pappyshow). This will be her first appearance at The Gaiety.

Lewis Kerr (He/Him) is Mo (Ensemble Member). His recent credits include Encore! (Cumbernauld Theatre), Aladdin (Perth Theatre), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Edinburgh Fringe). He is also a Founder, produce and performer with Scottish a cappella group Perfect Forth. This will be Lewis’s first appearance at The Gaiety.

__________________________________________________________________

Ken Alexander, Co-Writer & Director has said of the show;

“As writers, Mother Goose has given a lot of freehand to make our own story up. We’ve used a wee bit of my family history in it as our starting point. Our Mother Goose is a kind and generous soul, who would give anybody her last. She runs the village shop, and they’re going through a cost-of-living crisis in the village, so she’s given everything away. This is loosely based on my great-grandparents who, during the 1930s depression had a bakery in Shettleston, and my great-grandma apparently couldn’t see anybody go short, so she’d slide them a wee loaf of bread on the side, and they eventually went bust. Similarly, poor old Mother Goose ends up on her uppers, until a stroke of luck with the golden eggs!”

Fraser Boyle, Co-Writer said;

“We’ve taken the traditional panto structure and thought – how can we create a story within that? That’s then sort of nailed it down, as sometimes when you’ve got no base story it can go wild! We have a transformation in Act 2 which I’m very much looking forward to! There’s a lot of jokes which’ll go right over the little ones heads, that the adults can appreciate – and lots of slapstick humour for the kids as well. Which sometimes the adults really like too!”

Jennifer Bates, Solar Bear Creative Director/CEO said;

“Supporting Ayr Gaiety’s panto, Mother Goose, is something that I am so very proud of. For such a long time, there has been a notable absence of deaf actors on our main stages at Christmas. Now, there is not one deaf actor employed but two and I know that both Bea and Benny will be brilliant, I’ve had a sneak peek during the read-through! Solar Bear have been working with the team at Ayr as they relish the creative challenge of working in a bilingual room: playing with the richness and complexity that can be explored when working with BSL and visual communication. All the while making sure best practice, equality, access, and inclusivity is at the heart of the process. We cannot wait to see the final production this winter – my tickets are booked!” 

__________________________________________________________________

Mother Goose – Friday 22nd November 2024 – Saturday 4th January 2025

Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

To post a comment, you must register and login.