At the panto

We heard creeping about at 1.10am. Nathaniel had come downstairs to see the time on the kitchen clock. When he came in beside me at 7.30 he said he’d come down at 6 as well. We had our football chat then when Mr C came back with the paper he nabbed the sports section while we had breakfast. Ella, practising for teenage years, didn’t surface till 9.

Mr C took them to the woods for a walk while I prepared a picnic to eat in the car en route to Whitley Bay. Once there, Nathaniel and Thomas reached stale mate at chess then it was time to go down to the panto at the Playhouse.

On the way in a member of staff asked James if he’d like to go on stage for the chat with Steve Walls. He wanted to know what he’d have to do and wasn’t sure so Nathaniel was asked. He said he’d already done it the last time we went (2019) so maybe Thomas or Ella should go. Thomas didn’t want to so Ella did.

The panto seems to get better every year. They all laughed and shouted their heads off, Nathaniel in particular. Steve Walls, a local, is on every year and gets a great reception. They did the usual Ghostbusters routine which is part of this panto’s tradition, involving the ghost taking away someone off the bench and everyone shouting where they went.

Ella went on stage with 3 other children at the end to be asked a few questions - her name, age, where she came from - she was very composed. Then she had to repeat after Steve Walls “two smart men felt smart, three smart men etc etc” as fast as she could. All was well till she got to “three smart men - smelt farts”. Needless to say the audience erupted. She took it in good part. The boys were wetting themselves with laughter. I’m just so pleased that James didn’t do it as he’d not have coped with being laughed at.

The blip is them with Steve Walls at the end of the show. He is a great showman. Then Mr C picked me up and the daughters took the children off for fish and chips. We wanted to get back before the roads iced up - the thaw in the day means it’s bad later.

A lovely day and worth the £197 for the 7 tickets. (A fee of £1.50 was added on to each ticket price despite me buying at the box office.)