The duo keeping Leeds panto on track

While the panto stage sparkles with slapstick and sequins, behind the curtain is a different kind of drama. For nearly 30 years, a mother-and-daughter duo have been the real-life fairy godmothers helping to turn the backstage mayhem into magic.

From speedy costume changes to runaway wigs and prop mishaps, 76-year-old Kath Harrison and Helen Shippin, 43, have experienced it all.

Having got involved in local theatre 29 years ago when Helen landed her debut dancing role in a festive production at the old Leeds Civic Theatre, the pair have barely missed a panto season since.

As preparations for this year’s show at the Carriageway Theatre ramp up, the women, who work in the costume and backstage team, will be on hand to steer the cast to stage amid the behind-the-scenes chaos.

One of their main jobs is to dress the panto dame – and with up to 10 costume changes per show it requires a quick turnaround.

“Last year we had to change the dame out of a leotard covered in pots and pans into a giant cupcake,” Helen says.

“There was no time to mess about. He literally came off stage and we ripped his costume off.

“One of us passed him his wig while he took his other one off, and then I was running behind him fastening him up as he was heading back on stage.

“It took us about 16 seconds – it was the quickest change we’ve ever done.

“Fortunately Aaron [Steadman], who’s played the dame for the past couple of years, is really good because he will just let us pull him to pieces.”

During the Carriageworks panto season – which runs from 21 November to 4 January – the mother and daughter team will be on hand for all 74 shows and say the key to ensuring they run smoothly is “military planning and organisation”.

Once the cast’s costumes arrive, Kath, armed with her trusted “sewing box of tricks” is ready for any alterations.

They both sit through the 10-day rehearsals, organising the costumes and props and working out the logistics for the quick changes.

When panto starts, they make sure all the costumes – several dozens of garments – are washed after each show, dried and ironed, ready for the next performance.

Given there is only one normal-sized washing machine and tumble dryer backstage, that is no easy task.

“Anything that touches the skin, I wash,” says Kath, who prides herself on her high standards.

“Never, ever, ever in all the years I’ve been doing this, have I sent someone on stage in something that hasn’t been ironed. They can go on with damp socks, but no way, not creased clothes.”

In between acts, they’re on hand to carry out any unexpected repairs.

Kath says: “The boys’ trousers when they kick their legs up high, they’ve always got a hole in their trousers at the crotch.

“I always have a row of pins on me and a needle and cotton – one white, one black – ready to put in to stitch things up and a glue gun, because there’s a lot of broken shoes.”

Among that, there’s plenty of other jobs – washing gunge out of performers’ hair before the dash back to stage, sorting hundreds of bits of confetti into coloured piles and making sure Aladdin goes on with his lamp.

But like any good panto, there’s unpredictability and mishaps, which mean last-minute job swaps for Helen.

“Basically, if something goes wrong or breaks down, I’m the one they call,” she says.

“Last year, when we did Snow White, one of our dancers went off mid-show so I had to go on and operate a puppet.

“Then once when we did Jack and the Beanstalk I ended up playing the cow a few times because people went off sick.

“Another time I had to operate the stage lights right before the curtain came up because the technician’s wife went into labour.”

This year’s panto, Sleeping Beauty, marks an especially important date in the theatre’s calendar as the venue celebrates 20 years since it opened its doors.

Over the last two decades, it has hosted more than a million audience members at more than 2,000 productions.

For Kath and Helen, the place is very much part of their lives and where close friendships have been forged with performers and the wider panto team.

Helen, who juggles her role alongside working full time as a children’s dietician at Leeds General Infirmary, says: “It’s like a family, we all look after each other and support each other.

“A few years ago Jai McDowall, who won Britain’s Got Talent, played Prince Charming and we got on so well from the start that he’s now one of my best friends.”

Asked if they would prefer a calmer run-up to Christmas, the pair are adamant they are not pulling the curtain down any time soon.

Kath adds: “Once I stop enjoying it I might think about packing it in, but at the moment I just love it, it’s brilliant.”