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Soap starRichard at helm as pantomime cast sail in


THE cast of Aladdin sailed into Maidstone aboard the Kentish Lady pleasure cruiser to launch this year’s Hazlitt Theatre panto. In a blaze of colour and flanked


by the pupils of East Borough Pri- mary School, the players waved to the public as they arrived inMaid- stone town centre. Starring stand-up comic, actor


and singer Richard Blackwood, the Christmas family favourite runs fromDecember 1 -31 at the famous 350-seat venue. Most recently, Richard played


Vincent in EastEnders. He plays the Genie in this year’s


panto, while crowd favourite Eliz- abeth Bright returns for a second year, this time as Princess Jasmine. Richard told Downs Mail: “I re-


ally like Maidstone – it’s the place that everybody needs to head to in Kent. The people are sowelcoming and friendly. I can’t wait to get started. “Playing in a soap means that


you can always shoot a scene again. Live theatre is obviously dif-


ferent, except that with panto, the mess-ups all become part of the fun. It doesn’tmatter somuch. “With panto, the audience is


young, but I loveworkingwith the kids because they are true and the reaction is always genuine. “I am sure that we as a cast will


really gel together because a cast that gets on always transmits that on stage. And I think it’s obvious when it is not happening.” This is the fourth panto for Richard, who recently left the part


of VincentHubbard in EastEnders. KivanDene is playingAbanazar,


Alessandro Lubrano is Aladdin and Erin Lewis takes on the role of Slave of the Ring. A Hazlitt Theatre spokesman


said: “The boat trip worked really well again this year andwe’remas- sively grateful for the response. “We’re also grateful to the East


Borough Primary School for allow- ing their pupils to become our sort of mascots for the day. The cast members loved them.”


News MP to aend


Brexit debate MP HELEN Whately is to stage a town hall-style debate on Brexit, with sixmonths to go before Britain leaves the EU.


Mrs Whately, the member for


FavershamandMidKent, hopes for a lively exchange of views at LenhamCommunity Centre onOc- tober 5 at 7.30pm. TheMP will give her perspective


and a view from parliament and take questions. MrsWhately said: “Brexitwill af-


fect us all.Rightly, people have very strong feelings about it. I want to make sure they have a chance to put their points tome in person. “I also want to bring people to-


gether with different views. It’s no good ifRemainers only speak toRe- mainers and Brexiteers to Brexiteers – that justmakes thedivisions grow. “This is ever more important as


the options for our future relation- shipbecome clearer.AndIwill learn more about what people want to contribute to the debates.” The consequences of Brexit on the


M20 were brought sharply home over the summer when residents near Grafty Green learnt thatHigh- ways England is searching for sites for a lorry park in the area.


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Visit/call Hazlitt Box Office Quote: Downs/MKL Offer ends 31.10.18


Maidstone Weald October 2018


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