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27
Dec
The man behind Harrogate Theatre's pantomime dame
It’s a miserable December evening in Harrogate; the rain is pouring and night drew in not long after lunch time.
Few things could brighten up a dull winter’s day more than the magic of pantomime, and Harry Wyatt – or Dame Tilly Trott, as locals might know him – is a key cog in the local production.
Harry was fresh off the stage when he spoke to the Stray Ferret on December 18 – around three weeks into the seven-week run of Harrogate Theatre's Jack and the Beanstalk – but what has drawn this Norfolk boy back to Harrogate for a third year?
It’s so lovely. The theatre, the team, the community – it’s just lovely. Harrogate is a nice place to come for Christmas anyway, but the theatre is just great, everyone who works is here is so friendly and everyone gets involved in all the social things. It doesn’t feel like a cast, a crew and then everyone else – it’s just like one big family, I suppose.
At the ripe age of 31, Harry, whose soft accent is quite literally the opposite of Dame Trott's, is already something of a pantomime veteran. He said:
I started when I was a child, going to watch them. As soon as I started doing drama club – it’s a club that gets local kids involved in panto – I just loved it.
I did it as an early teen. Peter Pan was my first panto and then it just carried on from there. I can’t remember a Christmas without doing a panto.
Director Marcus Romer watched Harry in a Norfolk pantomime a few years ago and invited him to audition for the Harrogate production of Dick Whittington in 2023.
Lucky for us, he hasn’t looked back since.
Harry Wyatt as Dame Tilly Trott in Harrogate pantomime. Credit: Karl Andre
'It's quite tiring, but then you eat a lot of mince pies'
Pantomime legend Tim Stedman last year told the Stray Ferret he loses a stone in weight each panto season. All good pantomimes are packed with fabulous musical numbers and a few laps of the auditorium, but is it really that intense?
“Yes”, Harry tells us.
Without being graphic, they’re sweaty shows! We’re all wearing silly costumes and changing [out of] those costumes. We’re wearing wigs, we’re running around and the lights are hot. It’s quite tiring. But then you eat a lot of mince pies and pizza, so I’m not sure I lose as much as Tim does!
It’s very physical, though.
After just three weeks of rehearsals, the run got underway on November 30.
The cast do eight shows each week over a five-day period. Harry told the Stray Ferret:
It’s lovely but it becomes very repetitive. That’s why it’s nice doing school shows and family shows, because you get a different response [from the audience].
Although he makes it look easy, Harry concedes being funny can be a tough gig. "It's subjective - everyone finds different things funny", he says.
But his love of the local pantomime was clear. Harry added:
Sometimes you’ll have jokes that go over people’s heads that no one laughs at, but then they might laugh at a funny slapstick bit.
There’s something for everyone without being too alienating. The funny local jokes are there but they don’t detract if you’re not a local person.
'I'd never really done make-up before'
Harry had only played a dame once before the local gig, but he seems right at home in his outrageous costumes.
Speaking of costumes, Harry had changed out of his before speaking to the Stray Ferret. There’s something disconcerting about seeing a pantomime dame in normal clothes – a little like seeing a teacher out in public as a child.
Like most dames, Harry’s make-up is loud and colourful, but he was a beginner before being cast in the Harrogate show:
I’d never really done make-up before.
If I do it nicely, it takes me about an hour. It’s lots of fun… I watched Ru Paul’s Drag Race [to get inspiration] but there are lots of ways to do dame make-up. I like mine to look drag-esque. I also watched a lot of YouTube.
When he’s not under the theatre’s bright lights, Harry said he can be found nursing a pint at Little Ale House or a cocktail at Roland’s.
He loves brunch at Farmhouse, and coffee at Nomad and Baltzersen’s.
Michael Lambourne, Harry Wyatt and Tim Sted in Jack and the Beanstalk. Credit: Karl Andre
Anyone who has watched Harrogate pantomime will have their own answer to this question, but what makes it so special?
Harry said:
I think it’s warm and friendly. I think – I hope – it’s not offensive in any way, because you sometimes have pantos that have jokes that go over the kids’ heads but not the adults’ heads and some adults don’t like those sorts of jokes. Sometimes there are dirtier jokes or a bit of smut. But I just think it’s so friendly - as soon as you walk through the front door of the theatre, it’s a nice place to be.
The curtain falls on Jack and the Beanstalk on January 18. By then, hundreds of people - children and adults alike - will have walked out of Harrogate Theatre with smiles on their faces after watching Harry and the cast in this annual sprinkling of magic.
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