Happy Feet director George Miller gives Glengarriff panto a shout-out
"Mad Max: The Road Warrior" director George Miller at a Q&A session following a screening of the movie during the SXSW Film Festival on Monday, March 16, 2015 in Austin, Texas.
Panto season is back in earnest after the Covid crisis and Glengarriff Theatre Group is getting ready for this weekend, when more than a thousand people will head to the Beara Peninsula village's Eccles Hotel to witness a cast of young and adult actors give life to the classic tale .
GTG's Eoghan Quish says: "We're a theatre group for youth and adults as well. We put on productions for Christmas and Spring nearly every year — we couldn't the last few years because of Covid, but we put on a panto every Christmas, and this one is — a local director who used to work in the UK, Maggie Frame, she's producing and directing.Â
"There's 180 kids involved, and 60 volunteers, so we do four shows over a weekend, with the cast divided into two groups. We have a thousand tickets, and 95% are sold-out already."
It's a big undertaking, but Frame knew exactly who to call to give the cast and crew a bit of encouragement via a video shout-out — none other than Hollywood director George Miller, the mind behind an eclectic body of cinema work, from and the flicks, to the series and .
Miller says 'chookas' to all involved — and explains that that's the Australian way of wishing good luck in the theatre.Â
"In terms of the hands-on stuff, the kids are really excited that it's happening again, excited and nervous, but they're looking forward to coming back now. It's really, really good, great for the kids, great for their confidence."
- The Glengarriff Theatre Group's production of the Snow Queen takes place from Friday, December 2 to Sunday, December 4 at Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff.Â
