00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to
00:05 speak to Ben Watson, who is as much an institution in Hastings as Hastings White Rock Panto is,
00:13 and you are back, for goodness. How many Hastings White Rock Pantos have you done now, Ben?
00:18 Oh, Phil, I've lost count. Oh no, I haven't. Oh yes, I have.
00:24 It's a venue you love, isn't it?
00:27 Yes, I mean, the White Rock rocks. I was only meant to be there for a month, and there's
00:35 been a horrible mistake. I've just, they haven't let me go. I've been in this dressing room
00:42 for 10 years.
00:44 Really? Held hostage? Panto hostage?
00:46 Yeah, I get cryogenically frozen for 11 months of the year, you know, like Han Solo in Empire
00:51 Strikes Back.
00:52 And then defrosted in December.
00:54 And then defrosted late November. And then I'm allowed to, which is why I've kind of
01:00 got so much energy, because...
01:02 You're not supposed to refreeze things, but never mind.
01:05 Oh yeah. I took my best before. That's all right. I've got three more weeks.
01:12 Why is Hastings such a good place for panto, do you think?
01:16 Hastings is the place for panto. I think because, for me personally, there is no other place
01:25 in the world like Hastings. It's so individual, it's so unique, and it has its own energy
01:36 and vibe down here that I absolutely love. And I think all the people are so individual
01:41 that, you know, when you put it all together in a theatre, that just comes alive.
01:49 Yeah. But to go back onto the stage year after year in the same venue, does that make it
01:54 easier because you know that the audiences know you, or does it heap up the pressure
01:58 because you think, oh my goodness, I've got to be funnier than I was last year?
02:02 Oh, I hadn't thought about that, Phil.
02:07 I'm going to have to leave this call now. I'm going to have to go. There we go.
02:14 You changed your name as well.
02:16 I'm back. Yeah. Yeah, I'm Nadine today. She's very kindly lent me the laptop to do this
02:25 conversation. But no, in answer to your question, I mean, it's a bit of both, really, because
02:31 you're, there is a bit more pressure each time because there's an expectancy and an
02:36 expectation. But at the same time, you're a familiar face. And so there is a familiarity
02:46 to this and you do build up a relationship with the audience and the community over the
02:53 years.
02:54 And talking of relationships, you have on stage, most recently, you're on stage mum,
02:59 don't you, Tim?
03:01 I do. My mum. Well, this year, this year, she's not my mum. She's my fairy god mum.
03:07 So, but she's still my mum, just fairy god mum. But yes, we have a very unique relationship
03:14 as well.
03:15 And why does that work so well when you're working with Tim?
03:19 We're very similar. We have a similar sense of humour and similar ideas for jokes. And
03:27 we like to sort of work and build on each other's jokes. So there's not really any competitiveness.
03:34 I don't think so. I don't know.
03:37 If he's competing, you haven't noticed.
03:40 He's even telling you actually, I'm always trying to outdo him. But no, we support each
03:47 other because, you know, it's it's it's it can be it's it's it's hard work, Panto. I
03:53 mean, it's you know, you're doing a lot of shows. So it's we've all got to look out for
03:58 each other. And yeah, so Tim definitely does that.
04:02 Yeah, hard work, but it fulfills a lovely purpose, doesn't it? Because it is just such
04:06 fun to go and sit and watch a Panto. And I'm sure you'll be delivering some pretty groan
04:11 worthy jokes with you this year.
04:13 I'll do my best. You wouldn't expect any less. No, but you're absolutely right. And I think
04:21 it's the one time or the one kind of sort of one type of theatre where all the family
04:28 go from, you know, the smallest to the oldest to the and you get the entire family, all
04:36 the different generations can come and enjoy the show. And there's something that all for
04:42 all of them. So it's a wonderful opportunity for families to meet. And we've got lots of
04:48 families that message and say, it's our tradition. It's our family tradition to come and see
04:54 the show. So and I remember when I was younger, you know, it's what got me into acting was
04:59 to go and see a Panto and just watch the kind of magic chaos and comedy on stage.
05:07 And interesting that it encouraged you to become an actor. And we were saying just now
05:11 that there is a lovely continuity about Panto, isn't there? That so much of life changes
05:15 around us yet somehow, pretty much in essence, Panto doesn't change, does it?
05:20 I think because of where Panto comes from, because it comes from Commedia dell'arte,
05:24 it comes from, you know, it's hundreds of years old and clowning. And so as much as
05:33 things change culturally, their pop culture and music and everything, there's still a
05:40 sort of through line, a linear of Panto traditions, the call and response, the fairy and the villain,
05:48 and they all appear on different sides. There's all the different kind of, you know, the comic
05:55 timing in three. And the audience know that. So yeah, it's passed on generation to generation.
06:02 Fantastic. Good. Well, really lovely to speak to you, Ben. Have a fantastic Christmas in
06:07 Hastings and happy New Year when it comes. Thank you.
06:11 Thanks, Phil. Oh, yeah. New Year. Haven't even gone there yet. But thank you very much,
06:16 Phil.
06:17 Thanks a lot.
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