NEWS: Hilarious alternative to traditional panto comes to Barbican Theatre, Plymouth this festive season

Issue date: 3 November 2022

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Image: Oh No It Isn't stars Darren Seed.& John Gregor
Barbican Theatre, Plymouth are excited to announce their festive show this year is 'Oh No It Isn't!' from the amazing Cornish based Ha-Hum-Ah Theatre - a hilarious yet poignant alternative to traditional panto.
It's the final performance of Cinderella in a moth-eaten, regional theatre and backstage tensions threaten to boil over onstage. Will the egotism, one-up-manship and politics remain confined to the dressing room? Will the ugly sisters keep the professional professional and the personal personal? Will we ever find out what happened during Babes In The Wood?
Based on a lifetime of experience onstage and backstage Oh No It Isn't! is a hilariously funny and beautifully moving new play exploring the highs and lows of life in the theatre.
Written by Great British Pantomime Award nominee Luke Adamson and using real anecdotes and stories it is an impassioned yet tender love letter to the world of performance.
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Image: Oh No It Isn't stars Darren Seed.& John Gregor
Oh No It Isn't is produced and directed by Ben Kernow who says,
"We're really excited to be bringing Oh No It Isn't to Plymouth this Christmas. When we last performed the show in Cornwall audiences absolutely loved it and we really think Plymouth will too. For us this has the perfect mix of hilarity and a poignant message - the stuff great Christmas shows are made of! Although it features classic panto ugly sisters, what you're really watching is what you don't normally get to see in panto - the back stage antics. You'll expect actor egos, dodgy makeup and cliched one-up-manship but what you might not expect is the vulnerability and bitterness."
Ticket prices are £16.50 full and £13.50 for concessions - these are applicable to all dates and all seats. Concession tickets are what the Barbican consider 'self described' which means people can book these lower priced tickets without providing proof (such as being a certain age, on certain benefits or being a student). You can also purchase a Pay It Forward Ticket (£26.50) which supports 4 free tickets (per performance) for anyone to book who would otherwise feel unable to see a show this winter.
Barbican Theatre’s CEO and Artist Director, Laura Kriefman says
“Money shouldn’t be a barrier to people attending live events and performances and Christmas is no different. We’re offering 4 free tickets per show for anyone who might not feel able to afford to come along.  We’ve introduced Pay It Forward tickets to help support this - we hope some members of our community will buy a ticket for themselves and pay an extra £10 to gift a ticket. Feels like a lovely present for this winter.”
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Oh No It Isn’t runs at Barbican Theatre, Plymouth from 9 - 24 December with performances at 5pm and 8pm. Suitable for ages 12+ (features some strong language!) Book tickets 24/7 at barbicantheatre.co.uk 
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Notes to Editors 
Oh No It Isn’t trailer
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Reviews and acclaim for Oh No It Isn’t:
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★★★★★ "If I laugh this much at any full blown pantomimes this year, then I will be most surprised. As entertainment goes - with depth to it - then you will not get better than this."    ReviewsGate
"It's brilliantly funny, madcap and slapstick combined with poignancy...not to be missed" Sandie Coleman
"Oh No It Isn't! isn't Christmas fluff, but it is a lovely piece of theatre that highlights love, loss, friendship, loneliness and rejection". Radio St Austell Bay
"If you get a chance get along to see this lovely, funny and poignant taker on the panto dame tradition. A grand alternative Christmas show" - Dan Richards
Performances
  • Friday 9 December 8pm
  • Saturday 10 December 8pm
  • Tuesday 13 December 8pm
  • Wednesday 14 December 8pm
  • Thursday 15 December 8pm
  • Friday 16 December 5pm & 8pm
  • Saturday 17 December 5pm & 8pm
  • Monday 19 December 8pm
  • Tuesday 20 December 8pm
  • Wednesday 21 December 8pm
  • Thursday 22 December 8pm
  • Friday 23 December 5pm & 8pm
  • Saturday 24 December 5pm
Running time approx 70mins
Suitable for ages: 12+

About Barbican Theatre

Barbican Theatre is committed to building Plymouth's cultural voice. We have been working for 42 years to inspire the next generation of artists and entrepreneurs to find their creative voices (voices often unheard).
We are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO),  a registered charity and have been identified as cultural producers for Plymouthj. We specialise in creating performances and events for unique spaces, mixing genres and styles to create innovative, accessible work, and taking performances that people want to engage with, direct to their communities.  We are committed to inclusivity regardless of cultural, sexual or social background.
Our CEO is award winning choreographer Laura Kriefman, who specialises in the fusion of movement and technology, and has an extensive background across a number of art forms. She is supported by a highly experienced core team of professionals in production, tech, marketing, finance, event management, theatre, and dance.
We want to enable young people to experience and access all lines of work in the creative industry, offering opportunities to explore and create. They can engage with so many areas from technical, choreography, production management, directing and writing to producing, film making, projection mapping, composing and more.
Barbican Theatre is a registered charity, funded by Arts Council England, Plymouth City Council, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation and Youth Music.
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www.barbicantheatre.co.uk
info@barbicantheatre.co.uk 

About Ha-Hum-Ah Theatre

Ha-Hum-Ah is an award winning North Cornwall based theatre and film production company. We create innovative and ambitious stories that stimulates the imagination.
Ha-Hum-Ah Theatre was established in 2018 to offer the support and framework for artists to produce their own work with the aid and collaboration of others. Many artists don't fulfil their artistic potential, due to the daunting prospects and challenges with producing and staging their own work. In response Ha-Hum-Ah Theatre was formed to act as a co-operative theatre company where actors, director, writers and creatives of all backgrounds could work together in realising and harnessing each other's creativity. Through this process we believe we've tapped into a unique, exciting and vibrant way of creating theatre for artists and audiences alike.
In 2021 Ha-Hum-Ah expanded into the world of film with the creation of Ha-Hum-Ah Films, with the aim of bringing our unique and inventive style of telling stories to the world of motion pictures.
Artistic Director - Ben Kernow
Website
03/11/2022 | News |
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