The Swash Returns To Buckle the Civic
35 years ago John Parker stopped travelling, after being a dairy farmer on Exmoor, and resolved to “do something theatrical”.
After getting involved with a student production in Plymouth, John concluded – “This is the world for me” and after finding his tribe, he’s been here ever since.
The TAODS (Totnes Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society) productions have become an annual staple since it’s inception with The Pirates of Penzance in 1936. Starting off mainly performing Gilbert & Sullivan comic operettas, the group have emerged to regularly sell out much anticipated performances year after year. John has been involved in many of the more recent productions including Sleeping Beauty in which he was Bimbo the Jester (the first time was way back in 1991), writing and directing the twist from the original, ‘Babes in the Hood‘ and directing “The Wizard of Oz” and “Robinson Crusoe” back in 2010.
This year John has taken on the writing and directing duties for an unusual subject when it comes to panto, The Three Musketeers. The action moves from Paris to Totnes when the unseen Cardinal sends Athos, Porthos and Aramis in a search for identical copies of the Queens missing jewels to save the day. Two sets of jewels – what could possibly go wrong? It’s a spoiler but look out for punning wordplay featuring ‘d’Artington’ and plenty of gags involving Totnes coffee shop etiquette.
This is the world for me
The troup are currently in rehearsals in the Masonic Hall. John is working hard on creating some genuine spectacle and swordplay. “It’s expected that something like this should be a bit shonky! But I really like to get some true sparkle into it” He is referring to the essential ‘it’s behind you‘ silliness but the limitations of the backstage at the Civic Hall seems to have inspired him to investigate inventive techniques and devices for the set. For the previous ‘Babes in the Hood’, for example, they created a clever plot-line featuring an onstage light-sabre sword-fight smashing through stage right, to re-emerge on film in multiple local locations Star-Wars style, crashing back into the stage from the other side.
There is clearly a passion for live performance for John who is also a musician playing locally with the Little Big Band “for both performers and audience, panto is a gateway to live theatre, and although for many it’s very often the only live theatre they’ll ever know, for some it’s an invaluable introduction to a world they would never otherwise experience.”
As with several other recent pantos, the musical director tis time is local musician Dave Holland. So with preparations well under way, it looks like it’s set to sell out for the late January performances and booking early is highly recommended.
Tickets for any of the 5 performances in the Civic Hall are available here