Meet Faye Campbell who plays Elizabeth in our panto!

Our Press Officer Steve Pratt caught up with Faye Campbell, star of All New Adventures of Peter Pan ahead of the show opening this week… 

Faye Campbell made her York Theatre Royal pantomime debut in uncertain times. The country was coming out of lockdown in late 2020 with uncertainty surrounding the future of theatres which had been forced to shut because of the pandemic.

A decision was made – if people couldn’t come to the theatre then York Theatre Royal would take the theatre to the people. The Travelling Pantomime was born, visiting 18 community venues in the weeks before Christmas.

Faye played principal boy – Jack of beanstalk fame and Dick Whittington – in two pantomimes with the audience being given the opportunity to vote for which one they wanted to see.

“From an actor’s point of view it was nice to know something was happening as a lot of actors were out of work during the pandemic. From an audience point of view there was something really magical with families and children still able to enjoy panto at Christmas.

“The York pantomime was one of the only pantos running in the country. It was something very special, not just from an audience’s point of view but also an actor’s point of view. Performing in community venues you could see everyone’s faces and the kids were so happy. Going into the community made it very special.”

Faye Campbell (The Hero) in The Travelling Pantomime, photo by Ant Robling

There is, she confesses, nothing that she doesn’t like about pantomime. “I genuinely enjoy panto because cast and crew become like a little family,” she says.

Last year Faye returned to York Theatre Royal to play Cinderella last year – this time not travelling but on the main stage and completes a hat-trick as Elizabeth in the 2022-23 pantomime All New Adventures of Peter Pan.

Last Christmas Faye found herself being interviewed on BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour about Cinderella and the traditional image of her as a put-upon scullery maid bullied by her stepsisters.

By contrast, Elizabeth is the daughter of Wendy, who shared adventures in Neverland with Peter Pan in the original book. Faye sees Elizabeth as “young, brave and adventurous” – another strong, independent woman.

“Girls today are more independent and have more of an opinion so we need to reflect audiences of today. Elizabeth knows her opinion and how to express it. It’s okay to voice her opinion. It’s really feeling comfortable to say what she thinks and stand up for what she thinks is right.”

Is that how Faye would describe herself? “Yes, I think so, although obviously you need to word things in the right way. If there’s something that needs to be voiced, then find the best way to voice it. Every character I’ve been given has that kind of element to it. Elizabeth is a younger character but even more so these days younger people, like teenagers, pre-teens like 12-plus are so much more opinionated, so much more comfortable to voice things than probably us adults.

“Younger people, teenagers or pre-teens, are so much more opinionated and more confident to express things. Children are definitely being heard, like environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg – she’s a young girl and all across the world we’ve heard her voice. A few years ago that would never have happened. We wouldn’t have batted an eyelid at what she was saying.”

This isn’t Faye’s first brush with the story of Peter Pan. She was in a reimagined version of JM Barrie’s classic story, understudying the role of Wendy, in a 2019 production at Birmingham Rep. Then Wendy was “a bossy little girl but quite mature for her age, like Hermione in the Harry Potter stories”.

Faye got into acting after weekly visits to the cinema to see Saturday morning cinema. “Then he said we need to stop watching films and you need an activity. So I started dance classes probably around the age of seven, then drama classes and singing lessons,” she recalls.

“I did shows with the dance school and then, when I was in high school, I realised I was more interested in musical theatre so I studied that.”

The first pantomime she saw “a long time ago” – was Snow White. Faye genuinely loves pantomime, especially the interaction with the audience and how every audience is different.

She loves Christmas just as much. “I love Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, seeing the whole family and wearing a Christmas jumper.

She’s even worked with one of the Travelling Pantomime family – Josh Benson – for two summers as part of the entertainment team at York Maze. That work, she adds, is “very much like a summer panto.”

All New Adventures of Peter Pan: York Theatre Royal, 2 Dec – 2 Jan.

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