You’ll have noticed it’s panto time again. That doesn’t have to mean lavish productions with star, or not-so-star, names. 

There are many amateur groups currently hard at work, aiming to make your Christmas just a little more magical.

One of those is the Green Room Club in Carlisle, whose run of Jack and the Beanstalk starts on Monday and ends on December 12. It’s an early chance to get into the Christmas and panto spirit.

For director Janice Nixon it’s a return to her very first panto, quite apt as this is her directorial debut for The Green Room Club, though she has plenty of experience with Brampton Players.

“You could say I was late starter with pantomimes,” she admits. “I never went to see them when I was a child, so never really got involved in pantomime till I appeared in my first panto in 2003 – in Jack and the Beanstalk with the Brampton Players.

“The following year I stepped forward to direct my first panto, Robinson Crusoe , also with the Players.

“I directed the Players’ pantomimes from 2004 to 2011. The first three years were in the Playhouse, which sadly is no more, and then they used the Brampton Community Centre as their pantomime stage, the first one I directed and produced there being the Snow Queen in January 2007, where I also had to take on a role of one of the comedy duo.

“I prefer not to take on an acting role when directing as there’s always enough to do, but sometimes it can’t be helped and you have to step in where needed.

“My last panto role was with the Brampton Players in Cinderella 2014 as the evil Baroness, and I do have a small cameo part in this year’s panto at the Green Room...”

Amateur productions come with many challenges, not least when staging Jack and the Beanstalk and deciding what to do about having a giant, and a beanstalk to climb up and down.

“Artistically it was whether we went down the ‘do we have a giant?’ or not and yes, of course, the beanstalk, which I’m in the middle of making at the moment, but imagination is a good thing and for the actors to draw the audience into their imagination is a skill.”

Perhaps that’s where large scale productions on bigger stages with bigger budgets have an advantage.

“There are pros and cons with both,” offers Janice. “With small scale pantos you can get more involved with the audience, as a lot of the cast will have friends and family in the audience.

“Professional pantos are a bit more detached from their audience, but I do like to see a professional panto to see how the sets are put together and costumes the amateur theatre can only dream of.”

Saying that, plenty of effort goes into these amateur productions, with work on this one starting months ago.

“I guess the planning started back in May, June where we had to choose a script suitable for the Green Room stage,” explains Janice. “Auditions were held in August and rehearsals started at the beginning of September.

“Meetings were held with our set painter Sarah Waters to go over what scenes were needed. We had to wait until Playhouse Creatures was over in the second week of October. Sarah has worked almost every weekend to bring to life the colourful sets that you will see at this year’s panto.”

Of the cast, she adds: “Shona Broom has appeared in all of the pantomimes that I have directed, Joe Desborough has appeared in previous Green Room pantos, but I think for most of the others this is the first time.

“I feel a great responsibility as a director, especially as it’s my debut directing role at The Green Room.

“I know how critical people can be, but if you put yourself out there then you have to deal with the consequences.

“The Green Room has a great band of followers from past and present members to supporters of amateur theatre and they have their expectations, which are not always met – and they will make it known if they do or don’t like something!

“But what pleases one person doesn’t necessarily please another person. I hope in this interpretation of Jack and the Beanstalk there will be something that pleases everyone.”

The beauty about finishing the run before Christmas is that the cast and crew can wind down over the holiday period.

“This Christmas I am just going to relax and enjoy my time off,” sighs Janice with a smile, “after years of being involved in the Brampton Players panto, which in the days after the Playhouse years has always had to be held over the Christmas period.

“For years my Christmases have been taken up with directing and producing pantomimes from set painting, prop making to costumes, so it’s a nice change for the panto to be over before Christmas and to have time beforehand to prepare for Christmas.”

Beyond that, Janice isn’t currently making too many plans. She’s been involved in one production or another for as long as she can remember.

“Maybe it’s time for a break, although the some of the new season plays at The Green Room are very tempting, and Black Eden are looking to put on another musical, so who knows...”

Tickets cost £8, concessions £7, box office 01228 533233.