Martyn Knight makes it a remarkable 20 Eastbourne pantos this year.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely today
00:07to speak to Dame Martin Knight, now 20 pantos in Eastbourne. That is an astonishing record,
00:14isn't it? Why so many in the one place? What's so special about Eastbourne?
00:21Eastbourne is, the theatre is special, the town is special, the audience are amazing,
00:28they're very receptive to me when I pop on the stage. I feel loved, which in this day
00:35and age is a really nice thing to have. And I'm working with a team of people here in
00:41the theatre that are simply amazing, help us from costumes, the props, the set, to selling
00:47the tickets. It's a massive team effort to get panto on.
00:51Absolutely, and in so many pantos, the Dame role is to heart, isn't it? And is that how
00:58you see it? What's the Dame all about?
01:00Yeah, I think they've got to love the Dame. Yeah, they've got to love the comic and the
01:05Dame. And I've tried to do like a mumsy figure, and, you know, look after my boys and look
01:15after the people in the village and look after Snow White or whoever it is. And they love
01:22to see a man dressed up as a woman being kicked over, falling over, catching plates,
01:32doing stupid things. You know, I've been on bouncy castles and we've got a massive cake
01:38this year, which is a good fun routine that we're doing. And they like to see us go wrong
01:44as well, which obviously that happens sometimes. And that's sometimes totally unintentional,
01:50but Taffer and I do go wrong and we laugh a lot.
01:55And you've got a pretty intense schedule. You've got a fairly long run. It's hard work,
02:00yet you insist this is not work. This is pleasure.
02:04No, it's total pleasure. Total pleasure. And I've been working for Chris Jordan for nearly
02:1227 years. I did a couple of Dames in Potter's Bar near where I live in Watford. And I was
02:20really, really proud that I never missed a performance. I'd had shingles. I had an
02:27ear note and throat infection. And unfortunately, the blooming Lurgie in Covid got me and I
02:34couldn't work. So that's the only summer I've been off. I think I was off for about
02:38six performances.
02:40Well, I think if you don't record, we can forgive you, can't we?
02:43I reckon. Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. Yeah. I mean, I consider myself old school that,
02:53you know, if you if you've got a cold, you work through it. If you've got shingles like
02:58I did, you work through it because people are paid to come and see you. And especially
03:02like now, Tucker and I are so established here in Eastbourne, they want to see us.
03:07So you just work through and they say Dr. Footlights will cure you.
03:12So when you go on the stage, you forget about how ill. Yeah, it does. Actually, once you
03:16get into the role, you can feel absolutely awful. I've laid, you know, claps on the
03:20sofa in between shows, but then you get up and get on the stage and the love and the
03:25energy from everybody just lifts you up. So it does work. Yeah.
03:29Fantastic. And you're on this afternoon, are you?
03:32I'm on in 25 minutes. Yeah, so you better finish off that makeup.
03:39Really lovely to speak to you. Congratulations on your 20. It's a phenomenal achievement.
03:44Great to talk to you. Thank you.