We caught up with Robin Simpson, who will be playing Nurse Nellie in this years pantomime Sleeping Beauty.
This is your sixth York Theatre Royal pantomime, what keeps you coming back for more?
It’s a lot of fun. There’s nothing quite like a pantomime. It’s a rather wonderful artform. It’s one of the most live, theatrical experiences I think there is, both on and off stage. The audience reaction is so immediate and so integral to the show as well. You find yourself in rehearsals getting to a point where you think, “right we need an audience now”. It’s the same in every show, but it’s earlier on in pantomime. You rehearse a scene and get to a point where you think, we need that audience reaction, it’s a big part of the show. So yeah, it’s the fun, having fun with the audience, that joy and having a good time with everyone.
Can you tell us about your character Nurse Nellie?
My character is the dame character, she’s the nanny to Aurora and she helps raise her. Nurse Nellie is irreverent and silly, and she’s got a nice relationship with Aurora and Jangles the Jester.
You’ve spoken before about being a kind dame, can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Yes, I just don’t like cruel comedy really, I don’t think it’s necessary to be cruel. I just want to show everybody a good time. When I choose a man from the audience, to be involved in the show, I want him to leave the show at the end so happy that he was chosen and so excited to be chosen. Of course we take the mick out of him a little bit, that’s the whole point, but hopefully we do it in a nice way. I think it’s having that compare attitude because I am the familiar face every year.
Best moments in past pantomimes?
One that always sticks in my mind is of course Zeus. Zeus was the dog in Jack and the Beanstalk, and I loved doing the Zeus scenes. He did such a good job. We did some dog dancing and dog agility, it was fantastic. There was a moment where I take the beans off Jack and throw them in a compost headpost heap and miss. Then Zeus comes on and picks them up and puts them in! It was fantastic, I loved it.
That moment always spring to mind, but there’s different ones in every show. The boat scene in All New Adventures of Peter Pan was a fun little scene. There’s lots of lovely moments. There’s a particular moment in this one that I’m looking forward to, but I can’t give the game away!
What are you most excited about for this year’s pantomime?
I think the routines are great, we’ve got a slosh scene, which I think is the first time we’ve ever done a proper slosh. The closest I’ve done was in Jack and the Beanstalk. I was in a tank, and it was a weather tank, so I was snowed on, rained on, wind, but it was all happening to me. This is a three-person slosh scene, on the stage with buckets and lots of water, a proper old fashioned slosh scene. So, we’ve lots of great routines like that this year, lots of great jokes and brilliant songs.
Dream roles for the future?
It’s hard to pick specific roles, but there are lots of things I’d like to do. What’s nice in the last few years is I’ve done things I haven’t done before, different genres and styles. Last year I was involved in a couple of musicals, which was great as I hadn’t really done musicals very much before. The last couple of years, I’ve done quite a few Shakespeare’s, which has also been nice. I enjoy appearing in venues that I haven’t before, performing on new stages, in different cities. So, rather than roles, it’s more trying my hand at different styles of theatre, as it takes you out of your comfort zone. It’s nice try new things.
Favourite role?
There are some shows that I’ve been involved with that were absolutely delightful. I played Stan Laurel in a show about Laurel and Hardy, that was a wonderful thing, as I’m a great fan of Laurel and Hardy. I played Benedick on a tour of Much Ado About Nothing, which is a great part. That was a surprise as well as I wasn’t supposed to be playing Benedick, I was in the show, but not that role and then the actor playing Benedick dropped out and they asked if I’d like to do it, so I said yes! So that was a nice surprise, so Stan Laurel and Benedick really.
What do you do when you’re not acting or performing?
Hobbies wise, I like DIY, I always find something to do. Teaching myself how to mend a pipe or put some skirting boards on or whatever it might be, I find interesting. Gardening, I also love gardening. Computer games, I’ve always liked games. I’ve been playing computer games since the Atari came out in the 80s. It’s a brilliant way to wind down. I also really enjoy reading; I’ve always got at least three books on the go. I’m reading the new Philip Pullman book at the minute, and Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky which is great, so it varies, and I tend to read a non-fiction book as well to off set that.
Sleeping Beauty is at York Theatre Royal from 02 December to 04 January.
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