As so much of the country moves into tier 3 and tier 4 this December even those Pantomimes that were planning to try and run this year were forced to close and some were brave and bold enough to try capturing the shows for streaming to us in our homes. The Sheffield Lyceum Pantomime produced by Paul Hendy's Evolution is usually one of the finest shows of the season and won Best Pantomime (750-1500 seats) in 2018 & 2020 and best musical supervision for James Harrison in the 2020 Awards. Damian Williams won best Dame in 2017, so it is perhaps only natural that Hendy and Williams should plan to stage a socially distanced pantomime inspired show this year. The result, Damian's Pop Up Panto is an energetic, fun entertainment that pays tribute to some of the traditional pantomime stories and jokes. It distils the essence of Panto and makes it the centre of the show at the Lyceum's sister venue.
It gets off to an amusing start as Paul Hendy, who wrote and directed the show, rushes around the Sheffield Crucible's backstage areas to introduce the five cast members and the Musical Director. The Crucible's thrust stage with seating on three sides provides a good open space to capture the show and socially distance performers with Harrison's one man band positioned on the fourth side and there was a small audience present to provide some reaction to the jokes.
