The organising group for the Safari Supper met the other evening to discuss arrangements for the Safari Supper on the 8th June as the deadline for people to apply for this extravaganza is fast approaching. Please make sure you don’t miss out on this event by signing up for it as soon as you can. You will notice that the organisers are a bunch of true heavyweights when it comes to organising an event like this so it is bound to be a wonderful evening for all! A reminder the closing date to take part is 22nd April and if you want to sign up please contact the organisers by email on sbrowning@ eye1.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you very soon!

Yes it’s back! The fun social event of the early summer. Balmy evenings convivial atmosphere, the village full of people wandering from one house to the next to be fed or to feed people. What’s not to like?

Saturday 8th June sees this great event make a roaring come back. If you would like to take part please email: sbrowning@eye1.co.uk to register. There are posters all around the village and you should have received an information leaflet through your door. If you want more information please also email the above address. Interest has been high so far and spaces are limited to 36 couples so if you want to be there on the North Luffenham Serengeti Plains on 8th June wandering the village taking part in this grand social event please register as soon as you can. The booking deadline for this not to be missed evening is 22nd April so make sure you do not miss out! The cost is £10 per couple. Even a lion would find that brilliant value!

Last night saw the final rehearsal for this years pantomime. What an evening that was! The cast were on tip top form and the first ever full run through with lights and sound showed that everyone was ready for this evening at one level or another! Tonight will see another fantastic performance I am sure and we can’t wait to give you North Luffenham’s second pantomime. There were those who said it would never happen again. There were an awful lot more who said it should never happen again! We have confounded them all and 7.00 tonight in The Fox car park we will see a rebirth of some of the finest theatre you will see this year. We have even made national radio this morning with the news!

We look forward to seeing you all this evening for a festive night of fun and frolics!

With only one more rehearsal to go on Thursday, Tuesdays rehearsal saw The Two Ugly sisters turn on their worst powers to reduce Sinderella to the depths of despair! It’s hard to tell whether it was their interpretation of the script or just their acting that caused Sinderella to break down, but I fear it was probably the acting! Nevertheless the pantomime is looking truly amazing this year and I know we have a wonderful treat for you all. All the cast are literally itching to show you their thespianic talents. We hope to have found the cause of the itching by Friday!

So with just hours to go, and Lin brewing up the mulled wine for everyone to indulge in, we are looking forward to seeing you all on Friday. Don’t forget the pantomime starts at 7.00pm but there will be much merriment beforehand. Please remember to bring your spare cash along to make a contribution as we are not selling tickets. If you no longer use cash then please visit Lin’s mulled wine emporium where she will be able to take card card contributions as well.

The cast have been so dedicated this year and this year pantomime promises to be even better than last years. According to one theatre critic this will not be an overly difficult task to achieve. Please come along and judge for yourselves! The weather looks to be positively balmy!

The cast all came together for their latest rehearsal today. Given the weather we did wonder whether this should be a synchronised swimming demo rather than a pantomime! But the weather forecast for Friday looks almost balmy so the panto gods are smiling on us!

Just to remind you all the pantomime is in the car park at The Fox on Friday 15th at 7.00pm. There are no tickets for this but we are asking for donations on the night so p[lease do come armed with some cash to donate to this annual extravaganza. Foer those who no longer carry cash there will be an opportunity for you to donate using your plastic or phone via sum up.

The proceeds will go to cover basic panto costs but in the main will go to the village good causes so please do consider donating generously to help these highly worthwile causes.

The cast and panto supporters have worked so hard this year and can’t wait to wow you with another thespian feast next Friday. See you at The Fox. There is no better way to kick off this years festive season!

Just a reminder from last year!

I felt it was time to update everyone on the progress of this year’s pantomime. We have now had some rehearsals and I can’t believe the quality of this years cast!!

This years pantomime features some burning topics that have hit the village this year, and quite possibly might reveal the miscreants behind those topics, so you just can’t miss finding out more!

The cast and backstage team (yes, we have one of those this year) will endeavour to make this years pantomime even better than last years (not difficult I hear some of you cry!) and, so far, judging by the dedication this looks to be a real blockbuster.

So, make sure it’s in your diary, 15th December at The Fox at 7.30. Start your Christmas with a bang!

See you there, and I will keep you posted.

Yes, it’s what everyone’s been waiting for all year, the return of the North Luffenham Pantomime. Put it in your diary so you don’t miss out on another thespianic happening to rival anything the National Theatre could ever dream of!

We had the first meeting of willing volunteers the other evening. Many of last years cast were there plus some very exciting new members. So the scene is set for another of those “special Pantomime moments” this December. There is till time to join in if you want to. Our next get together is on 31st October at The Fox at 8.00pm. (A fitting evening when ghosts come out of the closet and ghastly happenings are brought to light!) Please do come along.

Hi Everyone

It will not have escaped your notice that temperatures are falling rapidly. Therefore, based on the arctic conditions for last years panto, it must be pantomime time again!

This is just a quick reminder that the first meeting for this years pantomime will take place at 7.00 tomorrow (Tuesday) night at The Fox. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in. No acting ability is required (you should know this if you saw last years panto!) I would love as many people to be involved as want to be, either as actors (luvvies!!) or “behind the scenes”.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night.

Simon

Please note the date for this meeting has been moved from Thursday 12th October to Tuesday 17th October. The venue and time remain the same. Sorry about this but panto land is never straightforward!

Simon

Yes good people of North Luffenham it’s happening again. Following last years outstanding thespianic event, and having now been given the final medical all clear for those cast members who suffered frostbite as a result of their heroic efforts in the frozen wastes of The Fox Outdoor Theatre we are pleased to announce the start of this years BAFTA Award entry.

I know literally hundreds of people have been queueing at the Stage Door of the Fox throughout the year to take part in this years extravaganza. So please anyone who would like to participate, be it on stage (or ice rink if last year is anything to go by!), or behind the scenes, (lighting, scenery, sound etc.) please come along to the first planning meeting at 7.00 on Thursday 12th October in the upstairs rehearsal rooms at The Fox. No acting ability is required, just a willing heart and soul and a desire to take part in one of the country’s best pantomimes of 2023. Many have said last years effort cannot be repeated, many have demanded that last years effort is not repeated! Not only will it be repeated, I know it will be surpassed with all your brilliant input.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on 12th October.

Simon Browning

We have a 6 seater dining table for sale. (No chairs, just the table) It is pretty much brand new and unused as we now have two of them! (long story!) It has a grey metal base with a hard acacia wooden top. We only need one table and hence we are offering this one to the first person who offers a reasonable price for it. The full set of table and 6 chairs was in the region of £1500 and we are selling just the table. The table is flat packed but the top is fully assembled and just needs 7 bolts fitting to secure the base to the top. It is an excellent value table and will make a brilliant garden dining table for someone. Buyer will need to collect. If you are interested please contact me on -simonbrowning958@gmail.com.

In true tradition why not join Chater Community Choir at The Fox today, Christmas Eve, at 6.30pm, for “Carols Around The Tree”

A truly joyous way to start the Christmas Festivities.

See you there!

Forget dancing on ice. Forget Strictly. Last night The villagers of North Luffenham witnessed Pantomime on Ice! And what a night it was! From a garish pantomime dame to a wicked villain selling very dodgy stuff this pantomime did everything it set out to do.

The car park at The Fox was heaving with Christmas spirit filled revellers who embraced the whole evening and joined in with the cast in the general mayhem and revellry.

Yes, the weather was cold but the atmosphere was so full of warmth and fun and the feedback from everyone has been so generous. We have already turned our thoughts to next year and early suggestion are either a modern version of Scot of The Antarctic or possibly Frozen! It was also suggested that if the World Cup can be held in winter then maybe the pantomime can be staged in Summer! In this village anything can be made possible!

If anyone captured any of the evening on photos it would be great to see them and add them to the Village Archives and to the website. So if you have photos and would like to share them please Whatsapp them to me on 07774456788. Thank you in advance.

I really must say a massive thank you to the fantastic cast and associated team who made this all possible. I won’t single out any one member of the cast as everyone was just so brilliant. From our first get together to the actual performance the enthusiasm and general desire to put on something we and the village as a whole could be proud of just built and built. So a truly massive thank you to you all. Also thank you to KayBee Developments for the loan of the lights that made the Ice Rink we acted on so much more visible! A massive thanks to Liz Caffarelli for the wonderful make up. (Sue made me take it off before going to bed last night. Apparently waking up in the same make up you went out in the night before is not the done thing!) And then thank you to Graham Madgwick for providing the sound system and controlling the music so well. Thank you also to Lin for serving up lashings of hot mulled wine that kept the frost bite at bay and to the bar staff at The Fox for keeping the audience well topped up throughout!

My final thank you goes to Jason for everything he did to facilitate the pantomime at The Fox. He put in a tremendous amount of work for this pantomime both before and on the day to prepare the stage and generally create a great atmosphere for everyone on the night, and not least to break it all down afterwards.

To all involved then a huge thank you, and to all who came on the night a huge thank as well. We all loved putting this on for you and we all hope you loved it just as much!!

Have a great Christmas and remember to open a tin of beans with your Christmas dinner. Who knows, you may just get three wishes!

Friday 7.30pm at The Fox

‘j’ and The Beans Talk

So, after just 4 rehearsals, mostly in sub zero temperatures, our intrepid cast have finally reached the day of the one and only performance of the pantomime.

Tonight at 7.30 in the car park at The Fox you will be able to witness feats of thespian skills that could only be dreamed of by the likes of Sir Lawrence Olivier, Roger Moore and Dame Judi Dench. You just can’t afford to miss this one folks!

The performance will take place in the car park so please make sure you wrap up warm. We had hoped for a heat wave but it doesn’t look likely. The good news is there is no rain or snow forecast! To help keep you warm there will be copious amounts of mulled wine on sale as well as, of course, the wonderful array of beverages at the bar.

As mentioned before, there is no charge as such to see this extravaganza but there will be a bucket collection taken during and after the performance so please do bring lots of cash with you and fill those buckets!! The collection will, in a small part, help cover pantomime costs but more importantly it will go towards our two wonderful village organisations, The Good Companions and The Good Neighbour Scheme, both of whom do such sterling work for the people of this village. So please do show your appreciation and give generously to help these causes.

We, the cast can’t wait to put this pantomime on for you. Everybody has worked so hard to make this happen. What a great way to get Christmas really started. The pub will be open for Pre Theatre Drinks as usual so do get there early and bag yourself the best positions.

We will start at 7.30 prompt. See you there. Don’t miss it!!

Yesterday saw the intrepid cast of this theatrical behemoth retreat indoors for their latest rehearsal. All the cast are so mindful of the need to preserve their voices for “the big day.” The last thing we want is a cast who have all lost their voices (I’m told that in theatrical circles this is known as a pantomime hoarse!) They all promise to be in sparkling condition to perform for you all on Friday.

So, the insider information is that all is going far far better than the production team either expected or dared to hope. Costumes have started to appear, ideas have started to gel and the cast have actually started acting!! They actually now know where to be at certain times (whether they will be there or not is an eternal mystery only to be revealed on the night!). Music has made an appearance and some of the jokes have been, for obvious reasons, revised!

Our baddy has upped his game beyond all belief and is now the baddest baddy in baddydom, so plenty of boos when he appears please! And what about the beans?

So, Friday looms. Are you ready? It promises to be such a brilliant fun evening. See you all there!!

What a blockbuster we’ve got for you! Last night saw the intrepid cast of the Village Pantomime venture out for a full outside rehearsal in the car park at The Fox. In sub zero temperatures the incredibly brave thespians demonstrated just why they are going to be so good next Friday and just how dedicated they are to bringing you the theatre experience of the year. It is rumoured that Netflix are now interested in developing a six part mini series about the development of the production and an insight into the lives of the cast! With teeth chattering and limbs falling off they bravely stormed through a full rehearsal to the obvious bemusement of passers by. No one reported any signs of hypothermia or frost bite so this was a big positive! Such is the dedication of this hardy band of travelling players striving to put on what is going to be a fantastic event for you all next Friday. The goods news is the weather forecast for the 16th is dry and positively balmy compared to last night.

A couple more rehearsals before the event but then we will be ready to give to you this first ever Pantomime staged in the Village. We can’t wait and we hope you can’t wait either!

I have been asked by someone in the village whether there is a World Cup game on Friday 16th that might clash with our village pantomime. I have this morning contacted Alladiani Pantomimino, the Chair of the organisers of the World Cup, Fefa Fifa Fofa Fumfa, and he has confirmed that there are no World Cup matches on that night. He had been made aware of our pantomime and had deliberately arranged the schedule so as to avoid our pantomime! All remains on course for a great evening!