Annie Fanny is on the move for 2017

Due to record-breaking sales, Annie Fanny and the stars of the town’s panto will move from their current home of The Plowright Theatre to The Baths Hall next year.

It means this year’s showing of Cinderella will be the last professional pantomime to take place at the Plowright.

A brand new panto – Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood – will run at The Baths Hall next year and will again be produced by Tony Peers Productions and star Annie Fanny.

There will be 35 performances in total.

Last year’s pantomime, Snow White, achieved 96 per cent capacity across the 54-date run meaning many people were left without tickets.

This year’s pantomime, Cinderella, has already sold more than 13,000 tickets and is on course to break that record.

Darren Johnson, who writes and directs the pantomime as well as stars as Annie Fanny, said: “The Plowright has been my home every Christmas for the past 11 years and I shall miss it dearly.

“But the figures speak for themselves and 96 per cent capacity is a truly remarkable achievement.

“So it seems the obvious choice to move up the road to The Baths Hall.

“Simply put, it means we can invite more guests to the party.

“A new venue calls for a new title and I’m delighted to be in the process of writing a brand new pantomime for 2017 - Robin Hood & The Babes in The Wood.

This swashbuckling tale of derring-do and merry men, who rob the rich to feed the poor, is sure to delight young and old alike – especially if the babes in the wood’s nanny Annie Fanny has anything to do with it.

“For such a short trip up the road it’s a big step, but I have every confidence that the theatre staff along with our producer Tony Peers will pull out all the stops to make this a spectacular production befitting its new home.

In the meantime, I’d better get back to finding that crystal slipper and pumpkin in time for this year’s pantomime, Cinderella, which starts on December 3.”

Tickets for Cinderella are available now on 0844 8542776 or www.plowrighttheatre.com

And tickets for next year’s pantomime, the first at the Baths Hall, are also on sale now from the Baths Hall box office on 0844 8542776 or www.bathshall.co.uk