The Panto Game

Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, New Road, Saturday, December 12

ANDREW Barnett-Jones is not someone who subscribes to the idea of writer’s block.

Since 2013 the scriptwriter for Dennis The Menace, The Furchester Hotel, Dick And Dom and Shaun The Sheep has proven that all stories start with a blank page by taking his improvised Story Game around the country.

“My brain has no option but to come up with something,” he says. “In fact I’m taking it a stage further by announcing The Story Game in the newspapers and selling tickets.

“Every time my brain steps up to the mark and surprises me. Every single time I have done it I have come away having learned something about creativity and how stories fit together.”

For his Brighton debut the Hertfordshire-based writer was asked to create something a little more seasonal.

“I was looking for titles,” he says. “The Christmas Story Game sounded a bit too much like the birth of Jesus Christ, so I rather bravely thought for a few seconds and said: ‘How about The Panto Game’.”

It was only afterwards he realised the difference between telling a straight story and creating a one-man pantomime purely by roll of the dice and audience suggestions.

“The whole point of The Story Game is to set a trap for myself and attempt to leap out of it, while trying to make it as difficult for myself as possible,” he says.

“With The Panto Game it’s about identifying tropes, reducing the stories down to building blocks and having fun either building them up or knocking them down.

“The first thing with The Panto Game is there has to be a hero and a villain, who should in some way be directly opposite to each other.

“The second act usually revolves around a song involving the audience and the hero and villain will come into conflict.

“Identifying where those key areas are is like having stepping stones in a stream, hopefully close enough so you can leap from one to another, although sometimes the gap is so wide you have to swim to the next stone. It’s about challenging yourself to do something you don’t believe you can do.”

The game starts with a choice of six pantomime titles, which are selected by a roll of the dice. The audience then has to insert their own word into the title – as with one of his tester school shows Cinderella And The Ugly Insects.

It being pantomime though that won’t be the end of the young audience’s involvement – as Barnett-Jones soon realised it was almost impossible to perform a panto purely as a narrator and still capture its magic.

“There will be lots of me running around with different wigs, bringing the audience up on stage,” he says. “I really made a rod for my own back – although I’m looking forward to how it’s going to be on the day.”

These Brighton Dome Studio Theatre shows will be the first Panto Games Barnett-Jones has played, although he has tested the format out on school visits.

“It may all go horrendously wrong,” he says. “It’s interesting to see if it develops next year.”

Barnett-Jones spends most of his time in his writing hut at the bottom of his garden, working up story ideas with co-writer Ciaran Murtagh. These live shows provide something of a welcome break.

As well as having penned new stories for Dennis The Menace And Gnasher, Mr Bean: The Animated Series, and Miffy’s Adventures Big And Small, the pair have been working on some new characters.

“Digby Dragon has a lovely environment element to it, but it’s not preachy,” he says. “Ciaran and I have written a lot of episodes for Counterfeit Cat, this anarchic cartoon about an alien who disguises himself as a family pet.”

And he has recently come close to achieving a lifelong dream.

“We did a lot of Dick And Dom’s Diddy Movies,” he says. “Now they’re doing parodies of TV shows – and among them is my Dr Who parody, which has just been approved by the Dr Who team!”

Starts 11.30am and 2.30pm, tickets £7/£5. Call 01273 709709.