Santa is heading back to Chichester this Christmas — and this year he could be trying his hand at beatboxing.
The Priory Park Pantomime Experience is returning to The Guildhall for a third consecutive year, with a brand-new festive story running across December.
Santa, Mrs Santa, Fairy Sparkle and Norman the Elf will all return, joined this year by Uncle Holly — a character who organisers say was once “very prickly”.
The one-hour show will feature songs, jokes and plenty of traditional pantomime fun, with this year’s story centred around Santa’s Chichester headquarters.
The gang will be busy making Christmas presents through writing, rapping, sewing and painting — with varying degrees of success.
Among the questions posed by the new show are whether Santa and his crew can learn to beatbox, whether snowballs can bounce like tennis balls and whether the audience can help break a world record.
The production is being staged by local company Twitten Productions and has been written by Chichester-based actors Katie Bennett and Vicky Edwards.
The cast includes John Harcourt-Kelly as Santa, Vicky Edwards as Mrs Santa, Katie Bennett as Fairy Sparkle, Jack Mallender as Norman the Elf and Jim Apted as Uncle Holly.
Each performance will also include a short meet-and-greet, giving families the chance to have photographs taken with the cast.
Children will be able to bring their letters to Santa and post them into his personal mailbox after the show.
Performances will take place on 12, 13, 19, 20, 21 and 22 December, with several shows each day.
A relaxed performance is also being held at 11am on Sunday 13 December.
Co-writer Katie Bennett said: “We've really enjoyed bringing our original panto shows to the beautiful Guildhall over the last two years and being part of many families' festive build-up which is such a magical time.”
She added that the team was excited to bring the new show back to the venue and warned that tickets could “go faster than Santa's sleigh”.
Councillor Harsha Desai, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Licensing, Communications and Events at Chichester District Council, said the show had proved popular in previous years.
He said: “Make sure you come along to cheer the goodies, boo the baddies - and get that festive feel-good factor!”
The pantomime forms part of Chichester District Council’s wider Christmas in Priory Park programme, which is designed to complement the city’s annual Festive Market and support local businesses.
The council says the full programme of Christmas events will be announced in early November.
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