Twenty years in panto? Oh, yes she did

As a young, serious dramatic actress, Connie Dey didn’t really see herself as pantomime material but next month she will be celebrating her 20th turn.

After her first panto, this veteran of the local theatre scene never looked back and at 80-years-old she is now looking forward to playing the role of the Queen of Messy Plutonium in the fairy tale classic, Sleeping Beauty.

Since 1967, Dey has either acted, or otherwise been involved in, just about every panto you can think of from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Cinderella, to the locally-written plays The Fire Bird and Ali Baba and the Fourteen (not 40) Thieves. 

The cast and crew delivered Dey a cake at rehearsals to celebrate her magnificent contribution to pantomime on the island, not to mention her involvement in theatre on the whole. 

Speaking to the Bermuda Sun, she said: “It is a milestone — it really is. 

“Early on I was a dramatic actress, darling (laughs). I loved pantos but I just never thought of myself as being able to do comedy in those days, you know, I did Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. I still like to do straight things too but I absolutely love the panto now.”

The first couple of pantos Dey was involved in she headed up the publicity and advertising — Jack and the Beanstalk was her first back in 1967. She had plenty of experience as she was working as a copywriter for Triminghams at the time. 

Soon after, the actress decided she would have a crack at comedy and joined the cast.

Typecast

While Dey seems like an incredibly sweet and personable lady, for one reason or another she was instantly typecast for the roles of wicked women. 

“Cinderella was one of the first pantos I was actually acting in — I played the Wicked Stepmother and then early on was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and I played the Wicked Witch so I was typecast as the baddy and I am very proud to say I have never played a good fairy! Bad fairies yes.

“I remember Cinderella because my first line was off stage while Cinderella was on stage hanging clothes on the clothesline. We didn’t have mics in those days so I had to really shout ‘Cinderellaaaa!
Cinderella!”

In Sleeping Beauty, which opens at Daylesford on December 5, Dey will play the role of the Queen of Plutonium. She is the grandmother of the Prince of Plutonium and she tries to convince her grandson not to marry the young Briar Rose as she believes she  is beneath him. Of course she is unaware of who she will become.

The play, with original music by James Burn, is directed by Carol Birch and loosely based on the traditional tale. An evil witch puts a curse on Briar Rose who will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep. Everybody bands together to help this Sleeping Beauty and a wonderful prince could be the answer to her dreams. 

Birch has taken the liberty of adding a Bermuda flavour with plenty of local jokes thrown in to the mix. 

The young Mikaela Kawaley-Lathan is to play the leading role of Sleeping Beauty, Chris Dyer is her Prince Felix, Jenn Osmond plays the wicked witch Evilena and there are a host of hilarious dames to look forward to.

Dey, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council in 2013, has theatre in her veins and while remembering her lines can sometimes be a little troublesome these days, she is keen to stay involved.

“I want to do things with Famous for Fifteen Minutes (playwriting competition)... I am concerned that age is catching up on me... I am 80 years old you are supposed to forget things when you are old! 

“What I want to do is be judicious about the parts I choose if I believe it is not too much for me.”