Panto Takes Prizes at NODA Awards

We’re delighted to have won two NODA awards for our highly original January 2025 panto, Buttons’ Dream. The extremely competitive contest saw success both for the pantomime’s writer and director, Emma Cianchi, and for talented actor Ian McDonald.

Emma received The Constance Power Trophy, the award for the society most worthy of encouragement, in NODA’s London District 13. NODA’s Cate Naylor acknowledged, “It’s no mean feat to write a pantomime! They need a clever script which romps along, innuendos galore and a messy scene complete with slapstick which has people laughing. Emma achieve that and more.” Praising Emma’s desire to write “a pantomime turned on its head”, Cate continued, “In nominating Emma for this award, I hope to encourage her to keep on devising and writing interesting scripts. If your first is anything to go on, you have a talent for the genre!” Emma continues to write as a part of our very own writing group, and her latest short play will be included in our October production, Diamond Gems, celebrating 60 years of our theatre group.

Ian playing the Royal Announcer in Buttons' Dream

Buttons’ Dream also won another highly prestigious award, this time for its comedic Royal Announcer, played by long-standing group member Ian McDonald. Ian won the London District 13 round for the Eric Watsham Memorial Award for the best cameo performance in a play or musical, and valiantly proceeded to the regional final held at The Radlett Centre, Hertfordshire, on the 22nd of June. Ian attended the Celebration Awards Evening, where he was delighted to discover that he had won the overall category, bringing home the highly coveted regional award, The Eric Watsham Memorial Shield, for the whole London region, which includes Greater London, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, as well as parts of Kent, Essex, and Sussex. In her review of the pantomime, NODA’s Cate Naylor wrote of Ian’s hilarious bugle-playing royal announcer: ‘Although his only lines were announcements, Ian delivered these with aplomb. His comedic routine with the malfunctioning bugle was beautifully timed, and even he looked surprised when it actually played correctly at the end!’

A huge well done and congratulations to our award winners, and to everyone involved in Buttons’ Dream.

View photos from Buttons’ Dream on our Past Shows page.

Get tickets to see our award winners in action in our upcoming production Diamond Gems by visiting our Book Your Tickets page.