Pantomimes: South East theatres win top awards for productions

Theatres from across the South East have been honoured at the UK pantomime awards.

A spokesperson for the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, Kent, said they were “absolutely delighted” to have won three awards.

The Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells and The Hawth in Crawley, West Sussex, were also winners at the event.

The annual ceremony took place at G Live in Guildford, Surrey, on Tuesday.

The Marlowe Theatre was one of the biggest winners on the night for its 2023 production of Aladdin.

Ben Roddy won the award for Best Dame, Paul Hendy took the Best Script gong and Chris Wong was recognised for Best Contribution to Music.

The Hawth’s long-standing dame Michael J Batchelor said he was “so thrilled” to win the award for Contribution to Pantomime, Tradition and Heritage.

Also honoured was Myles Brown who picked up Best Choreography for Beauty and the Beast at The Hawth.

For the third year of the awards, 70 judges visited 259 venues across the UK to see over 728 performances.

The winner of Best Pantomime was Birmingham Hippodrome for its performance of Jack and the Beanstalk.