Jason Sutton aka the drag entertainer Miss Jason is to play the role of Harold Thropp in a new production of Philip Meeks’s TWINKLE Little Star.
The play started life many years ago as an Edinburgh Fringe show and has been seen in a number of theatres since, being performed by a list of dame-playing actors that would grace many a London Palladium pantomime.
Philip Meeks, writer and director of this production, once saw a poster for a pantomime in which the actor John Inman was playing second fiddle to a minor celebrity from Big Brother and TWINKLE – Harold Thropp’s 1950s ‘cottaging’ name was created.
Harold was once the most important name on the pantomime dame circuit and now he is finding it hard to come to terms with his massively reduced billing.
The demise of the traditional pantomime is also playing havoc with Harold’s own traditions. Men playing principle boys roles rather than the leggy ladies of the past and now even the dame is relegated to just a few scenes and taken off the ‘song sheet’ page.
Philip Meeks is no stranger to pantomime and as an actor has played dame in an ever increasing number of top billing pantomimes. He has learned every nuance and tradition of the British pantomime and poured it into this play along with bitter disappointment, the bare facts about ‘cottaging’ and sad reminders of the unfairness of life and death before the Civil Partnership Act.
Philip has also thrown in generous dollops of acerbic comedy, witty one-liners and the pure magic of the trade told by ancient raconteur Harold Thropp aka Widow Twankey, boys and girls!
Jason Sutton is no stranger to the traditional pantomime having played the same roles as his character Harold in pantomime and he will dash off after this production to play Nurse Nancy in the popular Bromley Churchill pantomime produced by the ever spectacular Qdos Entertainment company.
The Bromley production will be Jason’s ninth pantomime as dame. He has also played ‘straight’ roles in drama productions including Privates on Parade and Boys in the Band.
Jason is known on the UK gay scene as Miss Jason. Many bars from Brighton to Glasgow have rocked with laughter at his antics as he entertains drag-loving audiences.
Event: TWINKLE Little Star by Philip Meeks, starring Jason Sutton
Where: Queens Hotel 1-3 Kings Road, Brighton BN1 1NS
When: Friday, November 10 at 8pm – Saturday 11 at 5pm & 8pm
Cost: Tickets: £13.50/£12
To book tickets online, click here:
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