About us
About us
We are an amateur dramatic group based in Cumnor village, just outside Oxford.
We were established in 2007 and presented our inaugural village pantomime Cinderella in December of that year at the Cumnor Village Hall. The production was a tremendous success providing fun and entertainment for participants and audiences alike, as well as raising funds for the village primary school and local charities. Spurred on by this success, we decided to do it all over again...and again (oh no you didn't... oh yes we did!).
To recognise of 10th Anniversary year in 2016, the Cumnor Parish News published a special review article reflecting on our achievements to date.
How it all started
‘Can I eat this?’. That is what the son of one of the panto committee says before Christmas as he picks up something that looks edible but could be a prop. Even before he was one, Thomas Lewis who is now 10 has known nothing other in December than a festive tide of drying papier mache offerings and painted canvas sweeping into the kitchen. His mum Jacqui is involved in set design and acting every year: indeed, she was the one who roped everyone in, fired up with thoughts of playing Dames and plucky heroes.
She was putting up Christmas decorations in a hotel when the idea popped into her head. On returning home, she asked friend Amanda Gaydon, who was babysitting, and then one by one other parents were recruited for panto – in Cumnor park while the children played… or by word of mouth.
They advertised a do in the pub to widen the net further and draw people in. ‘That night you pretty much got a part if you put your hand up,’ says Amanda Gaydon. ‘People who had never done anything like it before came forward. We agreed that Cinderella should be the first pantomime. We had little in the way of funding so paid for the things we needed for the show out of our own money.’
The village hall committee backed the idea, generously allowing the Cumnor Players the use of the hall for the performances. All practice took place at people’s houses, with only the nail-biting dress rehearsal choreographed in Cumnor Primary School hall in the final days. ‘We rehearsed the first scene a million times,’ says Amanda. ‘A week before the show, there was a lot of nervous giggling. Everyone was told to buckle down or the show would be horribly humiliating!’
As well as actors, musicians were recruited. The musical director for Cinderella Dave Gaydon plus Rachael Claridge, drummer Jon Buxton and saxophonist Jon Heffernan made up the original panto band, The Pantones.
The creative spark was lit for Ally Baker, and she volunteered to write the first script AND design and craft all the costumes. Publisher Ian Bannerman was asked if he would edit Cinderella which had taken her two months to write, and ‘add funnier jokes’. Local author Philip Pullman also contributed, writing verse for the Fairy Godmother played by food writer Sophie Grigson, then living in Cumnor. She made marvellous meringues to sustain the cast, boosting morale and energy levels.
The performances were a sell-out and the audience showed their appreciation. It was uplifting for those involved and the momentum just carried on… The second panto, Peter Pan, had a magnificent response, with a long queue of hopefuls lined up for casting.
Since then, highlights have included Jack and the Beanstalk (2014) receiving a runner-up prize in national finals from NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association); the Cumnor Players performed two years running in front of audiences of several thousand at Camp Bestival in Dorset; and also took an extract from The Darke Years, first shown in Cumnor, to the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford upon Avon in 2014 as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company project, Open Stages.
