By BRUCE DENNILL
The 2025 KickstArt Christmas pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Sinbad the Sailor is a riotous romp over the Seven Seas, in the company of the famous sailor Sinbad and his madcap crew and family. Kickstart regular Belinda Henwood plays as the scheming sorceress Morgiana the Magnificent.
In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare:
– Physically…
I try to keep fit as a general rule, so whether I am in a production or not I exercise daily; either walking in our neighbourhood, doing a strength class or swim at the gym or calisthenics at home. That done, you are less at risk of injury should your character require some strange postures!
– mentally…
It’s always a good idea to read the script beforehand, find any references that might help you build your character. For example, I am playing the villain this time around, so I have looked at some classic Disney villains for reference. Obviously that is just the starting block, and from there you have to form your character using your own strengths and what grows naturally through play and crucial guidance from your director.
– …and emotionally?
Again, depending on the character you’re playing, some reference reading or viewing can help you get into their heads and help you understand what motivates, terrifies or confuses them; what their desires are and so on, and you build that in. After that, play is crucial in order to get the real feel of character.
What is the single most influential performance you’ve ever seen – the one that made you feel: “This is what I want to do with my life!”?
Shamefully, I don’t recall the actor’s name, but when I was in high school, our f,abulous drama teacher Andie Holborn, who was pivotal to my love for theatre took us to see Nikolai Gogol’s Diary Of A Madman. It’s a one-hander, exquisitely done with the simplest travelling set, and outstanding performance: true storytelling in which the actor took us into his world and we were transported.
What is your favourite aspect of the industry – be it specific people, parts of the production process, particular venues/locations or something else?
Without a doubt, it’s the people! My best friends, my mentors, my favourite creatives and nutters are all people that I am privileged to work with, and who I have formed strong and beautiful bonds with. We have improved on our craft together, are able to support and admire each other, and be forever grateful to be part of this beautiful tribe in an industry that in reality is topsy-turvy and work not always an offering on the horizon.
What is an aspect of the industry that you feel could be improved (even if that’s only an idealistic wish)?
Funding! Oh how I wish that our government and the excessively wealthy would truly realise and believe in and back the necessity of the arts as a basic and fundamental need for society’s good and growth.
What has been your scariest onstage/on set moment so far (anything from forgetting words or cues to accidents or other unforeseen events)?
I’ll go for un unprofessional and funny little disaster for this one! A story not too unfamiliar to my friends. We traditionally do a little Secret Santa gifting, along with a lovely ‘bring and share’ feast, between our double shows just before Christmas during panto season. So the gifts are all beautifully wrapped, placed under our makeshift tree and we get to choose a gift and then possibly lose it to someone else, depending on how desirable it is. Well, lucky me, I chose what looked like an interesting ‘something’. I can’t even tell you what I thought it might have been, but I chose it anyway. Turns out, it was an old-school, pavement special, toilet plunger! Lucky me. Obviously, it was desired by no one and was therefore my take-home gift. Only, some wicked little conspiring had happened and that plunger ended up on stage, as the central piece on a glittery mountain of fairy luggage. That had everyone chuckling into their shirt sleeves, but the worst was yet to come. My part in this was not to be horrified at the sight of the plunger, but to take a specially placed piece of glittery luggage and mince off stage with it. As luck would have it, my skirt was enormous and the scope of my reach limited so that I had no other choice but to whisk the plunger up and crawl off the stage, paralytic with laughter. How embarrassing! I doubt I will ever forget that!
Tell us about your current production, and what makes your character interesting to play?
Kickstart’s Sinbad The Sailor is a pantomime in which I play the villain. I am enjoying finding the delicious wickedness necessary for her being a villain we love to hate. Steven Stead, our director, is fabulous at guiding us to explore the vast scope of our characters, in order to get a perfectly defined. For my character, that is smug and vain and not too scary; someone to have lots of fun with!