This year, we’re celebrating a very special milestone at the Belgrade: Andy Hockley’s 20th Belgrade pantomime!
What’s been your most memorable moment performing in the panto over the years?
That’s a really tough one. Many years ago – probably about 31 years ago now (laughs) – we were doing Beauty and the Beast. My daughter had just been born, and I remember having a photograph taken for the Coventry Evening Telegraph. The headline was “Beauty and the Beasts”, and it showed me in partial make-up, because I didn’t want to frighten her to death at six months old.
I’ve never forgotten it. It was such a fantastic memory.
How does it feel to be celebrating your 20th panto?
It feels quite an honour, really. It hasn’t been 20 on the trot – it’s been 20 over the course of 30-odd years. I did my first one with Iain Lauchlan in 1989, then I went away and was absent from the building for 11 years. I came back in 2022, and this is now my fourth panto since returning.
It’s a great honour to be part of Iain’s legacy. Since 1989, apart from one year, the Dame in this building has only ever been me or him. When you think about it like that, it’s quite something.
What’s funny is that Iain was only ever meant to do two pantos. When he took on the role, the then Artistic Director said, “You’ll get two years, and then we’ll change things around.” And they never did – he’s still here!
What’s it been like working with Iain for all these years?
Oh, it’s been a joy. We go back a long way – we first met here in 1982, when he was an actor and I was a third-year design student. We later ended up touring together on a children’s roadshow, and it was after that he asked me to come to Coventry to do panto in 1989.
That invitation literally changed my life, because I met my wife here. If he hadn’t asked me – or if I’d said no – I’d never have met her. It’s crazy to think about. My whole life would have been completely different. This building has really shaped me.
Do you have a favourite panto story?
I love Beauty and the Beast. Funnily enough, we’re doing it again next year. When we first did it – the one I mentioned when my daughter was born – the film had only just come out, so I think we may have been one of the first theatres to stage it as a pantomime.
It works so well because it has a really strong central story – a romantic story that has to be played truthfully. You’ve got all the mayhem and the traditional panto characters. I love the structure of it.
It’s a great story: a moral tale, a romance, an adventure. It’s got everything.
Do you have a favourite character to play?
Funnily enough, the character I’m playing this year is one of my favourites, simply because he’s a complete invention. Many of the other panto characters I’ve played are well-established – ugly sisters, King Rat, that sort of thing.
Grumbleweed has never existed in pantomime before and probably never will again. He’s a one-off. I was given free rein with him. All Iain said was that he wanted Carabosse’s sidekick to be a gnome, to fit in with the fairies and magical world. I named him, Iain agreed, and we built him from there.
I really enjoyed that freedom – he’s a pure invention.
What’s been your favourite costume you’ve ever worn?
I wore one as Dame Trot in Jack and the Beanstalk. It was cheese-themed—there was a triangular cheese hat, huge Edam shoulder pads, and even some twirly cheese. That was great fun.
What other theatre jobs have you had in the past?
I was in Wicked in the West End for three and a half years. Before that, I toured Chitty Chitty Bang Bang around Britain and Ireland, and before that I spent two years in the West End in The Phantom of the Opera.
Before all of that, I did loads of different roles. I was a rep actor, doing nine-week contracts here, there and everywhere. That’s how I made my living.
Photos by Nicola Young and Joseph Bayley