Photos by Stuart Martin.
This year’s Christmas pantomime at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Britain’s Got Talent winners and street dance sensations, Ashley Banjo and Diversity, alongside panto royalty, Christopher Biggins.
Diversity shot to fame in 2009 when they won Britain’s Got Talent and since then under the leadership of Ashley Banjo, the founder, choreographer, and creative director, they have consistently pushed the boundaries of dance and creativity. On the stage, having starred in the Olivier Award-winning production of Dick Whittington, this year marks the sixth pantomime that Ashley and Diversity have starred in.
Everyone has their own Christmas traditions but they aren’t set in stone – and pantos have become a central part of the season for Ashley.
“Pantomime has come to mean Christmas to me, honestly,” he says.
“It’s full of laughs, it’s fun, it’s good energy and it’s a bit of escapism that I feel is really unique to panto and absolutely love swapping that energy with the audiences every show.”
That said, there are some family traditions that remain unchanged for him.
“My plans for Christmas Day are probably going to be the same that they have been for the last five or six years now. Now that me and Diversity are in panto for the season, it will just be eat loads of food, spend some time with the kids and the family, watch TV and fall asleep – like a lot of people I suppose,” he laughs.
And he has a tradition from his childhood: “Something that me and my mum started when I was a kid, I always make sure we watch a Christmas film on Christmas Eve. My mum used to let me stay up late and we have just continued that tradition by watching a Christmas film on Christmas Eve – Elf or Nightmare Before Christmas – something like that!”
Although Diversity have become seasoned panto performers, this will be their first time doing pantomime at the Mayflower Theatre and Ashley says he’s “absolutely buzzing”.
He adds: “We’ve been doing panto for a long time, but we have only actually done panto in three theatres – London, Southend and Milton Keynes so it’s nice to go somewhere different but also go to such a big theatre and one that I’ve heard so many positive reviews about so I’m looking forward to performing for the audiences there. It will be a different crowd, a different energy!”
Ashley has played this role of Prince Ashley before with the rest of Diversity as the Palace Guards, and says it’s great fun.
“The banter and the laughs are what I love about doing panto with them. When we are off stage and on stage, we’re the same. It continues throughout and we just have so much fun. So even though you are doing so many performances across the season, it is just one big laugh. I massively enjoy it.”
This year Ashley will be working with pantomime legend, Christopher Biggins, and says it’s pretty exciting.
“I’m genuinely looking forward to working with Biggins,” he enthuses. “About a decade ago, he said to me, ‘Have you ever done a pantomime’ and we said ‘no’. We thought probably one day we will but we have never worked with him in panto, so this will be the first time in Southampton so I’m just over the moon to be sharing the Mayflower stage with a panto ledge’.”
- Tickets for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Saturday 9 December – Sunday 31 December 2023) are on sale from Mayflower Theatre Box Office tel: 02380 711811 or online at mayflower.org.uk
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