Rye Players biggest ever panto

I’ve been thinking about the arts — and, as often happens, the thinking quickly took a turn I can only describe as Pythonesque. So… what have the arts ever done for us?

Well, if you like your arguments backed by data rather than drama, here’s a start: government figures show that the UK’s Creative Industries contributed a staggering £124.6 billion to the economy in 2022. Music, performing, and visual arts alone added £11.2 billion. The sector is growing faster than the UK economy as a whole, and employs millions.

But enough of that — let’s bring things a little closer to home. Let’s talk about the Rye Players and this year’s Christmas panto: Crazy Christmas at the Haunted Hotel by Paul Johnson. It’s the biggest ever for getting the community on board – everything about the show is proudly local.

You may already have seen Oliver Brooks’ colourful and wonderfully evocative poster online — one of the first acts of pro bono brilliance from Rye’s talented creative community. Since then, the spirit of support has snowballed, with local people, businesses, and our own members all joining in to back a festive spectacular that director Xan Kite cheerfully admits is “quite spendy”.

On the last day of September, our generous superhost, Graeme Foster, welcomed friends and supporters to a lively fundraiser at Rye Fine Wines. As interim chairman, I said a few words, Xan said more (and better), and Larry Wilson went full green-bearded elf to keep everyone entertained. The room was buzzing with enthusiasm, the mood discreetly captured by photography ninja, Kt Bruce, and the pledges of support came thick and fast.

Ideas flowed as freely as the wine. Some businesses snapped up advertising spots in what will now be a bigger and glossier programme, while David Angell proposed the inspired idea of “sponsoring an elf”. With Graeme’s trademark stentorian encouragement, hands went up, notes were taken and promises made. Word has since spread, and we’re now hearing from supporters who didn’t even attend the event.

We’re not a wealthy group this year — much of what we have is going into urgent refurbishment of our rehearsal hut — so ticket sales are absolutely vital if we’re to do more than break even on this ambitious, joy-filled production.

There are 848 tickets to sell, and every bit of community support counts. Whether it’s sponsoring, donating, displaying a poster, spreading the word — or, of course, buying tickets for you and your friends — your help will make all the difference.

Together, we can make Crazy Christmas at the Haunted Hotel a show to remember -— and prove once again that the arts give back far more than they ever take.

Please get in touch with us at ryeplayers@btinternet.com if you’d like to help and do please also book your tickets for one of the four performances between December 12 -14 at Rye Theatre. Here’s the link for the booking office.

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Image Credits: Kt bruce .