22 Jun 2026
It’s become an annual tradition at the start of the summer. A chance to interview the cast of this year’s Harpenden pantomime, albeit with the caveat that none of them have seen a script, and the most they know about their characters are the names.
Still, these things are sent to test us, so we all muddle through as best we can, trying to second-guess the team at PolkaDot Pantomimes when it comes to predicting what audiences can expect to see in Rapunzel at the Eric Morecambe Centre come December.
Leading this year’s cast is former EastEnders star Lorraine Stanley, who played the brash but loveable Karen Taylor between 2017-2024, during which time she picked up various soap awards for her performance.
She will actually be appearing for the first time in her hometown, having moved to Harpenden about eight years ago to be closer to the EastEnders’ studios at Elstree and to access the great schools for her daughter.
“I’m doing it because it’s my hometown. I love the theatre, it’s modern, it’s beautiful, my daughter’s actually done a few shows here with [drama school] Jonas Hurst.
“My best friend was already living here, and every time we’d come here I was like, ‘Oh if I could buy anywhere I would buy here’. And then I got EastEnders and was ‘Oh my God!’, although unfortunately we couldn’t buy one of the big houses here I must add!
“We love the greenery here, we’re surrounded by fields and horses, there’s fresher air, great schools, lovely boutique shops and restaurants. We’re lucky to be here and we feel really safe here.
“I still get those moments when we’re on the high street and I’m like, ‘How lucky are we?’ and I’m just walking around with a happy face. Everybody’s nice here, you know what I mean? It’s a good place to be.”
Lorraine will be playing Fairy Rose in this year’s show, but she’s not entirely sure what that will entail: “I think the fairy’s job is to get rid of the evil baddies of the show and narrate it, I would imagine.”
But she is intending to bring a touch of East End charm to the role: “I think I’m going to bring a Cockney version to the table – it has to be done, doesn’t it? Maybe a little bit fluffy, but yeah, I’d say very Cockney.”
This isn’t her first panto – she’s previously played Queen Rat in Dick Whittington in Portsmouth, landing a nomination for Best Villain at the National Panto Awards – but she’s looking forward to not only playing a goodie this time round, but also being much closer to home.
“I said the next time I’m going to do panto it’s got to be somewhere close to my daughter because I really missed her, and here I can just rock up in five minutes and roll into work.
“I also wanted to work with Josh [Handley, Harpenden’s legendary pantomime dame] after seeing him here a few times.
“He’s amazing, and that was another incentive, as I wanted to work with him. We discussed it a couple of years ago but it hadn’t worked out, but this yea it’s perfect with the timing and everything.”
After this initial meeting, the cast will be back together in November for rehearsals over a couple of weeks, but Lorraine’s soap background will hold her in good stead for this quick turnaround.
“Literally you have a line-up, you do a rehearsal and the next minute it’s action. At first when I was on EastEnders I was like, ‘Oh my God this is really difficult!’, but your brain gets used to it – it’s a muscle memory. Surprisingly you end up learning your lines on the way to work driving your car for that morning.”
Having spent so long on the show, does she still miss it? “I do, yeah. I miss the people. I miss the stability of having a regular job. But at the same time I’m not a full-time mum for my daughter, who is 10, so you know, every cloud, you take the positive.”
The nearby St Albans panto is certainly no stranger to EastEnders actors, with Steve McFadden, Jake Wood, Rita Simons and Samantha Womack all treading the boards in recent years… Will she be inviting any cast members along to see her in action?
“Jake is hilarious. Have you interviewed him? Oh my God!”
He actually had an exhibition of his artwork at The Maltings Shopping Centre… “His artwork is brilliant, really cool. Steve McFadden I love. There are little clips of him on YouTube in panto… I just say I’m coming to watch it and I don’t! I’m going to try and get as many people from EastEnders to come here, but a lot of them are doing panto.”
So she’s still in touch with the cast? “We’ve got a WhatsApp group and sort of stay in touch, but I mainly keep up with the Taylors [her onscreen family] like Danny [Walters, aka Keanu Taylor], Zack [Morris, Keegan Baker], Clair Norris who played Bernie…”
It’s been a lovely little chat, even if we can’t really talk about the panto: “Yeah because it’s June! The cast are lovely, I’ve just met them and they’re really, really nice. Give me a good review, even if I’m shite, I’ll give you a tenner!”
And then she’s off backstage again, as the EMC’s marketing assistant Angela Connery ushers in the double act of the frocktastic Josh Handley and Art Attack presenter Lloyd Warbey, playing Betty Bouffant and Loopy Louie respectively.
Now in his fifth year in Harpenden, Josh is an old hand at these interviews, even though he turns up in full make-up and a pair of pink and white spotted bloomers.
“Well we know who we’re playing, we know our names! I’m the hairdresser of the village I think.”
“And I’m the silly billy sidekick,” adds Lloyd. “I’m your assistant, fixing what goes wrong, which is the fun bit.”
It turns out this will be his 25th or 26th panto: “I played Peter Pan for quite a few years, but as you get older there’s only so long you can be the boy who never grows up! I can still do it, but it’s when they pair you with someone younger that I’m like, I’ll stick with the comic.”
Although he has never been to this part of the world before, there’s an odd coincidence in that his Art Attack predecessor Neil Buchanan was a regular visitor to St Albans back in the day.
“Yeah someone said that to me! I’ve never actually met him yet, which is crazy,” says Lloyd. “I did Art Attack for 15 years and he did it for 30-odd, so maybe it’s time for us to meet up for a cup of coffee?!”
Having stepped away from Art Attack some years ago, he now focuses more on other TV work and runs his own arts and crafts company.
Back once again like a renegade master is Basildon’s own Josh, who has rather become part of the furniture now: “Where’s that time gone?” he asks.
With Bob Golding having stepped away from the Alban Arena’s festive production, Josh is now the dedicated dame of the district, so how does he keep his performance fresh every year?
“Well the thing is, my role is quite traditional, but to keep it fresh each year, well it’s different wigs I suppose?” he laughs. “The same voice comes back as the promotional videos always show. It looks like I’m flying through it but it’s the same job every single year! It’s amazing how much it all comes back as soon as the dress is on. “It’s lovely to come back each year and get more and more familiar with the theatre, it’s really an honour.”
Although it’s very much a traditional panto, albeit with influences from the Disney film, there will undoubtedly be some special PolkaDot touches in there somewhere?
“Well we had the jetpack last year, which I had to fly,” Josh recalls, “and then we had the giant, which was brilliant. They always have a little nugget!”
Could that be the talking chameleon rumoured to be appearing? “They’re in the number one dressing room, that’s all I’m saying,” says Josh.
Playing Rapunzel and Flynn are Isabelle Byrne and James Cohen, both stalwarts of musical theatre, but the exact nature of their relationship is yet to be revealed.
“I think he’s a goody,” James says to his co-star, “he does rescue you, but he’s a little bit roguish, a little bit into himself!”
They tried their costumes on for the first time earlier in the day, including Rapunzel’s legendary long locks: “It’s quite heavy,” Isabelle confirms.
A small amount of social media stalking revealed that James is a Kylie Minogue superfan, so will he be singing any of her songs? “I’m a big, big Kylie fan,” he confirms.
“I love that!” Isabelle laughs.
So will he ask to sing one of her numbers? “I would love to sing one of Kylie’s songs! I mean whether I’d do it justice or not is another matter altogether. But that’s a good idea, I might have to put in a request! I did do a panto one year where they did a little medley which used a bit of a Kylie song, and I was really upset I wasn’t involved in it!”
Having previously played the likes of Snow White and Wendy, Isabelle is relishing the opportunity to get her teeth into a more sassy heroine: “I’m quite excited actually!”
What about the chameleon then? “He’s called Karma, Karma Chameleon!” Isabelle reveals, before telling a bemused James: “You’ll see him this afternoon, he’s quite cute!”
In full costume are our final pair, Kerry Maskell as the wicked Gothel, and James Nicholas as King Crumble, both fresh from lunch where they have had the opportunity to chat with the rest of the cast.
“It’s been wonderful getting to know everybody,” Kerry says. “We’ve got a lovely cast this year. I’m really excited for it.”
She’s played villainesses before, including the Evil Queen in Snow White, Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, the Queen of Hearts and the Wicked Witch of the West, so is this her preferred role? “It is now. When you reach a certain age as a woman you realise you’ve got to channel your inner villain!
“When I started doing pantos many years ago I was the principal girl, then I moved on to do the principal boy for a long time until they started bringing in boys for those parts. I tried a fairy one time but it wasn’t really me, so I moved on to villains and I’ve been stuck there ever since. But I love it, it’s my favourite role! You can have so much fun with it…”
She made a point of coming up the day before to explore Harpenden: “It’s a lovely place! I know St Albans because my ex-partner was in a performance there for a long time at the Sandpit Theatre, but I’m very excited to be here.”
James’ broad accent betrays his Huddlesfield roots, but he too is keen to find out more about the town: “I’m very intrigued by the Eric Morecambe links as he’s a northern lad as well! He’s a bit of a comedy hero of mine.”
Although on this occasion he’s playing the comedy king, James has previously been seen as the dame or the odd ugly sister: “Never a principal boy…” he laughs, “but I live in hope!”
Then they’re off to film more promotional videos and hopefully a photoshoot if the rain ever stops hammering it down outside, with us all leaving really none the wiser about what to expect from this year’s panto other than the fact that this might be the strongest cast to date, which bodes very well for December.
If you’re already thinking about Christmas – and with the recent wintery weather it’s not been difficult – then would you believe you can already book tickets for Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale, via the EMC box office. We’ll be catching up with the cast on press night for our usual review, and they’re sure to put in an appearance at the Harpenden Christmas Carnival (November 22 if you really want to be that organised!).
