My day in cups of tea
WE ASKED TESS BILES OF THE THEATRE CHIPPING NORTON TO TAKE US BACKSTAGE WITH A CUPPA
Morning! What’s happening at the theatre?
I get in to work at around 8.30 to 9am. I head straight to the Green Room to make a cup of English breakfast tea, which I take up to my office.
What does your working week involve?
No day is the same. I could start it in London working on a photoshoot and end up walking a camel through the centre of town to promote the pantomime. (We did this last year for Aladdin.)
How many cups of tea are drunk in the day?
We’re all big tea drinkers. We even have a tea colour chart – my shade is Werther’s Original. Last year, we got through 8,800 tea bags!
When do panto rehearsals begin?
The cast arrive three weeks before the first show. We build a new set, sew new costumes and write new music for every panto, so it’s a full-on time.
Time for a break. What do you fancy?
A Lady Grey, please! Strong but milky. We all love to play a game of Dobble in the Green Room during breaks. We always manage to rope in the actors and our director, John, too.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
We’re right at the heart of our community. The Youth Theatre welcomes 180 children a week, we run drama classes for adults with learning difficulties and a scheme with our local food bank, Community Tickets, gives free show tickets out to families. It’s very rewarding when you get to see the impact of these projects.
Fill us in on a backstage panto tradition…
The child actors are referred to as ‘pippins’. Once a year, they do a Pippin Panto, wearing the actors’ costumes (FAR too big) and poking fun at silly things that happened during the show.
Spoiler alert! What’s the best panto joke?
“I can’t cook! Yesterday I burnt a Hawaiian pizza. Maybe I should have tried aloha temperature.”