Wellington Pantomime Group
The Wellington Pantomime Group was formed as an answer to a problem. The problem being that there was no real outlet for the younger talent of the area. Wellington Operatic Society had staged a few shows, where children were a necessary evil! Thankfully Geoff Goodwin and Mike Redstone had the foresight to provide that necessary outlet and so the Wellington Pantomime Group was born.
In January 1975 the first Pantomime, Dick Whittington was staged at the Arts Centre. The group continued with an annual pantomime at the Arts Centre until 1978. The early shows had no real budget, the funds were raised by a sponsored walk on the Quantocks, thank goodness things have changed! The first four pantomimes were played to full houses so in 1979 the group took the plunge and moved to the Wellesley Cinema. The group continued to grow and with it their reputation. These days the group performs a minimum of seven shows, three of those on a Saturday!
Happily the presence of young people is now welcome in all parts of the Arts Association. The Genesis Youth Group now exists specifically for the junior members of the association. Now most of our pantomimes are full of young talent, some experienced and some just starting out.
