Pantomime

At Imagine, we believe that everyone should be able to experience the magic of pantomime.

This Christmas we're delighted to offer a range of accessible performances including

• Relaxed performances - A relaxed performance is specifically designed to be an open and welcoming environment for those audience members who may enjoy, or benefit from, a more relaxed performance style. This includes those with Autism Spectrum Conditions, sensory and communication disorders, learning disabilities, dementia, or other conditions. These shows are for everyone, including families with small children. In a relaxed performance, audiences are asked to be aware of individual’s needs to move or make involuntary noise. We may make some small changes to light and sound effects including keeping the house lights on low and removing bangs.

• Socially distanced performances - this schedule is being added to all the time. These are performances with a reduced audience capacity.

• Signed performances - for those with hearing loss. Some of these are 'side of stage' signed and others are 'integrated signed' where the signers are on stage and part of the action.

• Audio described performances - for those with visual difficulties. Audio description is a verbal commentary that tells visually impaired theatre-goers what is happening on the stage during the parts of the performance where there is no dialogue (i.e. during fight scenes).

• Captioned performances - captioning converts the spoken word into text which provides people with hearing loss access to live performances. In captioning, the words appear on a screen at the same time as they are sung or spoken. Captions also include sound effects, offstage noises and character names.

Each theatre we work with offers a different range of performances, so you are always best to speak directly to the theatre itself. Their box office teams are there to help you find the performance which best meets your personal requirements.

The list of accessible performances for Imagine Theatre’s 2024 pantomimes can be found here. Please confirm these dates with the theatre prior to booking.

There are over 240 professional pantomimes across the UK this Christmas. These are all produced by independent producers such as ourselves, or by the theatres in house teams .  If one of our theatres isn't close enough to you, please contact your local theatre and they will be able to help you identify the right performance within their performance schedule for your accessibility needs