Just Imagine

This week on the podcast, Martin is joined by the brilliantly funny Jarred Christmas. Originally from New Zealand, Jarred has called the UK home for over two decades, carving out a successful career as a stand-up comedian. He's a familiar favourite at De Montfort Hall in Leicester, where he's been delighting panto audiences since 2021. In this episode, Jarred chats with Martin about his...

This week we are going behind the scenes into the world of the DSM. We are joined by Jazmyne Evans and Kayleigh Alstin who both have a range of experience in theatre including as DSMs.  Martin talks to them about how their interest in theatre led to working in stage management, the training they have received, how they developed in the role and just what a day in the life of a DSM is like!

This week Martin is joined by dazzling La Voix.  La Voix will be spending her third pantomime season at Wycombe Swan this year for Imagine in Jack and the Beanstalk. La Voix was most recently seen wowing judges in the final of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK .  No stranger to the screen she has appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, Celebrity Weakest Link; Queen of The Universe and in AbFab The Movie . S...

In this episode we explore the rich, provocative history of cross-dressing in theatre with acclaimed author and performance scholar Janet Tennant, author of the book It’s a Drag: Cross Dressing in Performance.  From ancient Greek theatre to Shakespearean stages to modern drag performers, gender has always been more fluid under the lights than many realise and has always played a significant role i...

On 19 May Imagine held an open day to mark the official opening of our new home Trafalgar House. We were delighted to be able to welcome many of the people that have been instrumental in Imagine’s growth over the years as well as many of the Trafalgar team who have helped to make the move a reality. On this episode Martin joins Sarah and Steve on a tour of the building, shares highlights from the...

Comedian, actor, presenter and panto legend Joe Pasquale joins Martin on the podcast this week.  This season Joe is performing in his first ever Imagine panto, returning to Swansea Grand, where he performed panto alongside Swansea legend Kev Johns 35 years ago.  Joe talks through his extensive and fascinating career, from early days on New Faces and being taken under the wing of comedy legends Ken...

This week Simon Sladen and Robert Marsden join Martin to discuss the panto Puss in Boots. One of the rarest pantomimes to be performed in recent times the panto is usually based on the Perrault version of the story from 1697. It is a typical rags to riches tale with baddies, fairies, skin characters, a panto dame, principal boy and a love story.  It has a fascinating history and was central in cem...

This week Martin is behind the scenes at the UK Pantomime Association Awards at The New Victoria Theatre in Woking. The UKPA Awards are an exciting opportunity for the industry to come together and celebrate this special art form. Amongst others Martin talks to Anita Harris, Elaine C Smith Simon Sladen, Sam Munday-Webb, Ben Goffe, Andrew Ryan and Basil Brush about the awards and their love of the...

They say there is ‘nothing like a dame’ and that can certainly be said to be true of pantomime. This episode Martin is joined by two performers who have played the role for many decades, Eric Potts and Iain Lauchlan.  They discuss the development of the panto dame from ancient Greek theatre to the dames of the early 19th century, where what we recognise as a panto dame today came into being.  They...

In this episode Martin chats to performer Ben Goffe who has recently been nominated as Best Comic in the UK Pantomime Awards for his role as Buttons for Imagine’s production of Cinderella at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. Ben comes from a theatrical family and learned to dance at his mum’s dance school from the age of 3. During his career Ben has spent two years with the RSC and two seasons with t...

We have reached 100 episodes of the Just Imagine podcast, and to celebrate our host Martin Ballard shares snippets from interviews with some panto legends including Morecambe and Wise, Roy Hudd, Danny La Rue, Larry Grayson, Nigel Ellacott, Bob Monkhouse as well as some favourite panto memories from the Imagine team.  Don’t miss out on the special celebratory edition!

This week’s podcast takes place in Coventry, taking you on a tour around our brand new premises and HQ. Martin is joined by Sarah and Steve Boden who will be talking about the move and the need for a bigger space to house all of Imagine Theatres sets, costumes, props and office staff. In this episode Martin gets an exclusive look at the new Imagine Theatre HQ, with a guided tour by Sarah and Steve...

This week’s podcast subject is set design and Martin is joined by award-winning set designer Ian Westbrook. Ian has designed for theatre, television and film since 1985 and despite working on some high-profile productions he retains a deep fondness for panto and has designed a number of sets for Imagine Theatre in recent years.  In this episode Martin learns how Ian came to be a set designer, how...

This week some familiar voices return to the podcast as Robert Marsden and Mairi Cowieson join Martin to talk about Sleeping Beauty.  Variations of the story have existed for hundreds of years all over the world. Rob and Mairi discuss the different ways in which they and others have approached the pantomime and the way the pantomime is forever evolving in line with the changing attitudes of the au...

This week Martin catches up with Steve and Sarah Boden to talk about how the 2024 season has gone. The 2024/25 panto season saw Imagine create their first ever panto in a big top circus tent, perform two brand new titles in Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Robin Hood and produce the first ever panto in the brand-new Fareham Live alongside continuing to develop their digital sets with the additio...

This week Martin catches up with some of the cast of Beauty and the Beastie in Glasgow: Liam Dolan, Valissa Scott and Nikki Auld. The Pavilion panto is a big part of festive tradition for many Glasgwegians as well as the actors themselves – this year is Liam Dolan’s twenty-sixth panto with Nikki just pipping him having done twenty-eight!  With the longest run of any of all of the Imagine pantomime...

This week Martin is joined by The Chase’s Jenny Ryan who is spending the festive season in Crewe as The Enchantress in Beauty and the Beast. Jenny talks to Martin about how she was influenced by theatre from a young age due to her grandparents links with the Octagon in Bolton, how she came to be one of the legendary Chasers and about why panto and live theatre in general is so special to her and t...

This year due to the refurbishment of the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock East Ayrshire Leisure took the decision to do pantomime in a big top circus tent – and what better panto to choose than Goldilocks and the Three Bears, a panto set in a circus! Martin talks to director and dame Andrew Agnew; Goldilocks herself, Ailsa Erskine, who is making her professional panto debut; Gary Morrison who is appe...

Andy Hockley is a hugely experienced theatre and TV actor, despite having originally trained in theatre design. He has appeared in 18 pantomimes at The Belgrade since 1989 in a variety of roles including both dame and baddie and this year he is playing King Rat in Dick Whittington. As well as pantomime Andy has appeared in some of the UK’s most popular musicals and is possibly the longest serving...

This week Martin is joined by two choreographers, Mitchell Harper and Claire Darcy. Mitch has a wide range of choreography experience from opera and musicals to pantomime.  Claire has been appearing in the Inverness panto since she was a child and has appeared in over 1,000 performances at Eden Court - going on from being a member of the Junior Ensemble to a professional performer and now also the...

Have you ever wondered why ticket prices cost what they do? In this episode Martin delves into the complex world of theatre finance with Sarah Boden to discuss this very question. Sarah talks Martin through the various different aspects that influence the cost of a ticket – from size of venue to the type of casting and all the extras that people may have never considered such as VAT, royalty fees,...

This week’s podcast was recorded at the North Wall Arts Centre in Oxford at the UK Pantomime Association panel event on Relaxed and Accessible Performances. The panellists were Jess Thom, Annie Bannister, Chris Jarvis and Dr Chris Abbott all of whom also took the time to speak to Martin directly on the subject of making performances as inclusive as possible. People from theatres across the UK atte...

This week Martin is talking to David Lloyd-Jones. From early memories of Punch and Judy in Llandudno and his first panto experience at Swansea Grand aged 9, David has gone on to have a varied career in the theatre industry, including being a current trustee of the UK Pantomime Association. As a young performer he was predominantly a vocalist but he decided early on in he had an interest in teachin...

Martin joined the team at a photoshoot and caught up with some of the Imagine team and casts from a number of different pantos. Jack Malin who is part of the team running the Theatre Café in London and is also playing Prince in Swindon’s Cinderella this year in one of the people chatting to Martin as well Maisie Scarlett who will be playing Cinderella alongside him. Martin also talks to panto dame...

Andy Nurse has spent many years working as a production manager for Imagine Theatre and also specialises in many of the technical aspects of live performance. From an early love of playing musical instruments Andy changed course to work behind the scenes in the industry and has worked in many different areas. He discusses his career with Martin and offers advice on how to get into the industry and...