Panto dame Kenneth is honoured

Kenneth Alan Taylor in panto

A PANTO dame met the Sheriff of Nottingham this week . . . but it was a civic not slapstick affair.

Kenneth Alan Taylor has notched up a quarter century of pantomimes in Nottingham.

From “Jack and the Beanstalk” to “Aladdin”, he has written and directed every panto for 25 years at the Playhouse Theatre.

And the former chief executive of Oldham Coliseum was given a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham on Tuesday, watched by the real-life Sheriff of Nottingham, Brian Grocock.

The prince of pantomimes was welcomed by Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan and city council members, with the cast from Kenneth’s 25th panto, “Aladdin”.

As well as writing and directing the production, the 71-year-old also returns to the stage as Widow Twankey in this year’s show, which opens on November 28.

Kenneth lives in Springhead with his wife, actress Judith Barker, and began his panto career in 1959 at Oldham Repertory Theatre Club — housed in the Coliseum in Fairbottom Street — in “Babes in the Wood”.

He was a Coliseum favourite, associated with the theatre for 43 years, becoming artistic director for four years from 1978 to 1982, and chief executive for six years to 2002, appearing in 272 productions.

He wrote and played the dame in the Coliseum’s traditional Christmas panto, making his last cross-dressing appearance in 1980, also in “Aladdin”.

He also ran Nottingham Playhouse for seven years from 1984.

There he began the Playhouse’s annual pantomime performances with “Jack and the Beanstalk”.

His close association with the city has continued ever since, and, like the Coliseum’s, the Playhouse’s panto has become one of the best surviving examples of the traditional family pantomime.