JW3’s first Jewish Pantomime Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig And a performance on Christmas Day!

Tale as old as time and as new as the world premiere of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, JW3’s first Jewish Pantomime - the home of Jewish Arts and Culture in NW3 London, opens on Sunday 10 December 2023 – Sunday 7 January 2024. (Press performance: Tuesday 12 December at 11000hrs.)

It’s Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light, and Little Red Riding Hood’s village is in need of a new electricity source, at an affordable price. Will Red bring home the bacon? Will the Big Bad Pig be pig headed? Is the Wolf misunderstood and not so full of wind? And will Bubbe (Grandmother) save the day with her own special wind?

For the first time bringing together the traditions of Pantomime and Jewish storytelling, Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig is traditional Pantomime magic at its best, with classic panto favourites including: sloshing buckets, getting lost in the woods, panto baddies and a catchy finale song sheet!

Brought together by Producer Becky Plotnek, Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig is written with Jewish humour by Nick Cassenbaum (Bubble Schmeisis), director is the award-winning Abigail Anderson, Musical Director Josh Middleton (DJ Vadim, Indecent – Menier, Puppet Theatre Barge), will play live on stage with a three piece band. The live band and the cast will be playing a multitude of traditional instruments from: accordion, guitar, trumpet, Bulgarian bagpipe, harp and Irish whistle and singing a mix of modern Jewish pop and rock songs and traditional classic Jewish songs in Klezmer style – but with all new pantomime lyrics! The production is supported by the National Lottery Project Grant and Plotnek Productions (Midgitte Bardot, DICE Festival), is delighted for the opportunity to present Jewish Joy on stage.

William Galinsky, programming director at JW3 says: “Panto is one of the oldest and best-loved British traditions, one of the few times a year people young and old come together to experience the joys of the theatre. The Jewish community has a long history of theatre and now is the time we brought those two traditions together for London’s first Jewish panto. JW3, as the home of Jewish culture, is uniquely positioned to bring together the best in Jewish theatre talent to put on a traditional Panto that has everything you know and love, with a JW3 twist. This Chanukah we want to bring some much-needed light to the world. I am sure, by the end of the show, when you think about where your troubles are, your only response will be ‘They’re behind you!’”

Another first is Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig will have a performance at 2pm on Christmas Day (Monday 25 December) – not forgetting the stunning JW3 Ice Rink outside the front of JW3 – which will be open daily from Monday 4 December! From stage and screen to incredible acrobatic clowns, the Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig cast: in her first role as a Dame is Debbie Chazen as Mother Hoodman (Our Generation, Mother Clapp's Molly House - RNT, Calendar Girls The Musical - Olivier Best Actress in a Musical nomination. TV: Doctor Who, Sherlock, Doctors nominated for Best Actress Soap Award); surrealist comedian with cult following Josh Glanc is The Big Bad Pig (multi-award award winning Australian comedian, Just For Laughs - O2 Arena); award winning actress Gemma Barnett is Red (The Beach House - Park Theatre, After the Lavoiya - Kiln Theatre, A Hundred Words for Snow - Trafalgar Studios, Offies Best Actress; also winner of the Poetry for Good prize, finalist of BBC Words First); clown and theatre maker Lauren Silver is The Wolf (Wilde Creatures - West End/Sydney Opera House, Beauty & the Beast: Rock & Roll Panto - Liverpool Everyman); international acrobat Tiago Fonseca – Bubbah, means Grandma, (Bureau of Silly Ideas, Theatre Company 1927, Komischer Oper Berlin); Tracy Bargate (Michael Morpurgo’s Butterfly Lion – UK tour, 3 Winters - RNT); drag artist, comedian and recent RADA graduate Yael Elisheva (Mycelial - Northern Stage, In This Smoking Chaos - Queens Theatre, Hornchurch) + musicians Josh Middleton, Maxie Cheer and Anna Lowenstein.

JW3’s intimate 220 seat state of the art, purpose built theatre, is perfect for a Festive treat of traditional pantomime Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, with a pig tail twist! And a full family day of entertainment for everyone to enjoy at JW3 with the JW3 Ice Rink, theatre and cinema! From stage and screen to incredible acrobatic clowns, the Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig cast: in her first role as a Dame is Debbie Chazen as Mother Hoodman (Our Generation, Mother Clapp's Molly House - RNT, Calendar Girls The Musical - Olivier Best Actress in a Musical nomination. TV: Doctor Who, Sherlock, Doctors nominated for Best Actress Soap Award); surrealist comedian with cult following Josh Glanc is The Big Bad Pig (multi-award award winning Australian comedian, Just For Laughs - O2 Arena); award winning actress Gemma Barnett is Red (The Beach House - Park Theatre, After the Lavoiya - Kiln Theatre, A Hundred Words for Snow - Trafalgar Studios, Offies Best Actress; also winner of the Poetry for Good prize, finalist of BBC Words First); clown and theatre maker Lauren Silver is The Wolf (Wilde Creatures - West End/Sydney Opera House, Beauty & the Beast: Rock & Roll Panto - Liverpool Everyman); international acrobat Tiago Fonseca – Bubbah, means Grandma, (Bureau of Silly Ideas, Theatre Company 1927, Komischer Oper Berlin); Tracy Bargate (Michael Morpurgo’s Butterfly Lion – UK tour, 3 Winters - RNT); drag artist, comedian and recent RADA graduate Yael Elisheva (Mycelial - Northern Stage, In This Smoking Chaos - Queens Theatre, Hornchurch) + musicians Josh Middleton, Maxie Cheer and Anna Lowenstein.

It’s Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light, and Little Red Riding Hood’s village is in need of a new energy source, at an affordable price. Will Red bring home the bacon? Will the Big Bad Pig be pig headed? Is the Wolf misunderstood and not so full of wind? And will our Dame save the day with her own special wind?!

Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig is written with Jewish humour by Nick Cassenbaum, Director is the award-winning Abigail Anderson, Musical Director Josh Middleton, Designer – Becky-Dee Trevenen, Lighting Designer Jo Palmer, Production Manager – Richard Williamson. The production is supported by the Arts Council England's National Lottery Project Grant and produced by Becky Plotneck’s production company Plotnek Productions in association with JW3. JW3 - Open to all, regardless of race, religion, belief, gender, sexuality, ability or age. JW3 - Jewish Community Centre London is the UK’s flagship Jewish Community Centre, the only such public venue for Jewish arts, culture, learning and community of its kind in the country. JW3’s Vision: A vibrant, diverse, unified British-Jewish community, inspired by and engaged with Jewish arts, culture, learning and life. JW3’s Mission: To increase the quality, variety and volume of Jewish conversation in London and beyond. In 2022 over 100,000 people have come to JW3 for more than 100 different activities each week, with many more accessing the programmes online. The diverse programme includes adult education, language classes, theatre and musical performances, youth activities, film, family events, social impact programmes and their seasonal installations