Robinson Crusoe: Rehearsals, Awards and Semaphores!

Robinson Crusoe rehearsals are well and truly underway for The Wight Strollers, with the cast already working hard at getting script and song words down for Act I before Christmas.

The show is still two and a half months away, but it feels a lot closer. Thankfully, with such a strong cast and dedicated production team, we're not too worried...yet!

We've been waving flags, tap dancing, testing out flowery swimming caps, learning how to wield spears and even learning to sing in Swahili - so far, so good.

That's not to say we haven't had our hiccups - we have. Act II is undergoing a makeover, songs have shifted keys and changed in length and characters have been tried, tested, retried and settled on. But this is all part of putting on a pantomime and, for the most part, it's an enjoyable process.

In other news, we've now finished learning almost all of the songs, several of the dances are finished and Act I of the script is shaping up rather nicely. We've also passed 300 likes on Facebook this month, and we're thrilled. And the good news from November doesn't stop there!

On November 19, Patrick Barry - our Robinson Crusoe - won the IW Amateur Theatre Award for 'Best Performance in a Christmas Show', for his role as Prince Rupert in Sleeping Beauty. John Hannam, the man who decides on the winners and presents them with their, quite frankly, beautiful glass trophies, described him as 'energetic, enthusiastic...everything a pantomime prince should be.'

We couldn't agree more, and Patch deserves a huge congratulations for all his hard work last year. He earned extra brownie points, of course, when he brought the award to a panto rehearsal and asked for a photo of the company with Sleeping Beauty director Sarah Scotcher holding the trophy - the award belonged to everyone in the photo, he said. What a sweetheart!

In the meantime, tickets for Robinson Crusoe officially go on sale from Medina Theatre Box Office on January 3 - phone number 01983 527020 - and the charities we'll be supporting will be announced in the new year.