The Cliffites panto group back from the ashes...Oh yes it is!

Feb 8 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Panto group back from the ashes...Oh yes it is!

A PANTOMIME group is back from the ashes... Oh yes it is!

The Cliffites, of Birchencliffe, return with a production of Mother Goose on Tuesday, February 16, the first since their home burnt down in March 2007.

Birchencliffe Parish Hall, Briarlyn Road, was destroyed in an arson attack leaving numerous community groups homeless.

But its replacement, St Philip’s Community Centre, was opened on the site in November.

Now the Cliffites strike back with a version of Mother Goose adapted by director Steph Potts.

The panto, casts Stephen Morgan as Mother Goose and, bizarrely, his wife Donna as her son Billy.

Stephen’s son-in-law Jaimie Potts will play the evil squire and his wife Steph will play the Demon of Discontent.

Three of the cast were in the first Cliffites production of Robin and the Babes in 1985.

Ken Shaw, who has made the scenery for over 20 years, has rebuilt the set which was lost in the fire.

The new £600,000 St Philip’s Community Centre is almost the same size as the original, which was built in 1970, and includes a stage and hall area for 200 people, with meeting rooms and better access to the kitchen and toilets.