Oxford Playhouse must be delighted that such a notorious and beloved baddie as Walter The Wicked will grace their stage this Christmas, as rehearsals for 2024’s Sleeping Beauty get underway.
Anyone who saw Robin Hemmings in Jack and the Beanstalk as Hendrix The Horrible last year READ OUR REVIEW HERE will have his heroic guitar playing etched forever on our brains.
Robin is basing Walter The Wicked on a mix of Alan Rickman in Die Hard and Dr Evil from Austin Powers , a fabulously dastardly combo
And as we arrive to interview him, passing through rooms full of costume-makers bent over sewing machines, rehearsals underway and set painting, there at the end of the corridor he sits, unwigged and defrocked but raring to go, ready to be outrageous as possible and keep us all thoroughly entertained.
Robin starts by telling us he is basing Walter The Wicked on a mixture of Alan Rickman in Die Hard and Dr Evil from Austin Powers, a fabulously dastardly combo: “I think it’s a great blend of baddies who are both dry and maniacal at the same time. So Walter is really menacing without really moving his face.
‘I relish the chance to goad and infuriate the audience as much as possible’
“So I relish the chance to really push the boundaries by goading and infuriating the audience as much as possible,” he says grinning sardonically.
As for the Sleeping Beauty story-line, Walter The Wicked is unsurprisingly instrumental in Princess Aurora pricking her finger and falling into a deep sleep for 1000 years, so when she wakes up in 1985, he has to steal a time machine and race through the centuries to ensure she doesn’t become Queen.
‘Walter is slightly unhinged – being vain, self serving, and ambitious – all the best things’
“Walter is slightly unhinged – being vain, self serving, and ambitious – all the best things, but still quite likeable I hope. Plus he looks a bit like Pete Burns, with an eye patch and leathers. Very rock star!”
Luckily for Aurora, her former school friends are there to rescue her, alongside Nelly The Nurse who plays the Dame, and the invisible fairy Marco to help her along.
Throw in some top tunes, songs, characters, dancing, 80s music, glue disasters and a custard pie fight, and the scene is set for another jubilant Oxford Playhouse Christmas panto.
‘Sleeping Beauty is really farcical and silly so it’s hard to keep a straight face on stage sometimes’
“Sleeping Beauty is really farcical and silly so it’s hard to keep a straight face on stage sometimes,” Robin admits.
And as writer and director Toby Hulse was here in Oxford during the 80s, there are some marvellous nostalgic references to enjoy.
With performances running from Friday November 22 – Sunday January 5, it’s still a long stint for an actor with up to two performances a day.
Robin agrees: “The Oxford Playhouse panto is always a marathon that starts off at a sprint, but as long as you can still make people laugh you get lifted along with the audience, so it’s always worth it.
‘The Oxford Playhouse panto is always a marathon that starts off at a sprint’
“Besides, anyone who’s seen the Sleeping Beauty rehearsals has laughed at all the jokes, enjoyed the energy and had a great time because the pace doesn’t let up. It’s an absolute juggernaut of a panto so we are all really excited about getting Sleeping Beauty out in front of an audience, as it’s going to be a lot of fun.
“And Christmas is often the one time of year that people go to the theatre, which is why we all invest in the panto so much at Oxford Playhouse, because there the magic awaits.”
Sleeping Beauty runs at Oxford Playhouse from Friday November 22 – Sunday January 5. Book here: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/sleeping-beauty
