John Pitman
BLHS Monthly Meeting Saturday, 9th December 2023
at 7.00 pm, United Reformed Church (above Iceland), Bitterne Precinct
John Pitman has acted in pantos for 36 years, 26 of them as ‘the Dame’, mostly based in Otterbourne and Winchester. Later he had a spell formation dancing, competing in ‘Come Dancing’. John’s father was a gamekeeper, who helped his debut, aged 9, by providing a stuffed rabbit for his first stage appearance!
John will tell us the history and tricks involved in panto – the word comes from ‘panto minos’ meaning to imitate. His favourite part was ‘Buttons’ and he described the ‘glamour’ and evil presentations needed from the Principal Boy, Bad Baron, Dame, etc.
John’s talk is like a one-man Pantomime with audience participation and humour.
