Cinderella Immersive Pantomime Cast Set for East Riddlesden Hall

Cinderella: An Immersive Pantomime Experience will turn the National Trust's historic East Riddlesden Hall into a festive fairytale this December, with Electric Press Productions announcing the full cast for the brand-new show staged inside the 17th-century house and grounds near Keighley in West Yorkshire.

Performances run from Friday 4 December to Wednesday 23 December 2026, with press night on Friday 4 December at 8:00pm. The production is designed as a walk-through Christmas adventure rather than a seated auditorium pantomime, inviting audiences to move through the beloved story in rooms and outdoor spaces that become part of the staging.

Cast led by Meg Kent and Elle Vosque

Meg Kent (Look To The Light on Amazon Prime; Our House at the Bridewell Theatre) plays Cinderella. Irish drag performer Elle Vosque, runner-up on RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 7, takes on fairy godmother Peggy, described by the producers as a guiding presence through the immersive journey.

JJ Broadbent makes his professional debut as Prince Max. Sophie Hygate and Kemi Stewart also make professional debuts as the step-sister duo Paige and Kitty. Nigel Fyfe (Shadowlands, Aldwych Theatre; Love's Labour's Lost, Rosemary Branch Theatre) plays the King. Jonny Mills (Hare and Tortoise, UK and US tour; Hay!, UK tour) appears as Dandini, Prince Max's witty wingman. Laura Judge (Footballers Wives, Edinburgh Fringe; Two, UK tour) plays evil stepmother Bev.

Completing the company are Aimee Sanderson-Bates and Joshua George, making their professional debuts as swings, alongside Hannah Day (I'm Autistic: A New Musical, The Other Palace) in the ensemble. Several of those debuts underline Electric Press's stated aim of opening doors for northern talent while still building a company that can carry a family Christmas show across three weeks of performances.

A reimagined Cinderella with live music and a Yorkshire setting

Created by Samantha Creswick and Emily Susanne Lloyd, the award-nominated duo behind Electric Press, and written by Calum Finlay, the show blends live music, larger-than-life characters and festive comedy shaped by the hall itself. Director Emily Susanne Lloyd says the company is using East Riddlesden Hall as part of the storytelling, aiming for a company-led piece full of big characters, music, silliness and heart.

In this telling, Cinderella dreams of escape from life with her stepfamily and a chance to share her voice. When kind-hearted Prince Max hears her sing at the village Yuletide Fayre, he is captivated and announces a grand ball at the Royal Palace. When midnight strikes, Cinderella refuses the traditional glass-slipper ending. She invites Max to choose music, freedom and adventure over royal duty, framing the story as a celebration of self-expression and defining happiness on your own terms.

That rewrite matters for how the immersive rooms will feel. Instead of rushing toward a shoe-fitting finale, the show asks audiences to watch a heroine decide what the happy ending looks like. Live music and comic set pieces still sit at the centre of a family pantomime, but the producers are pitching emotional agency alongside the slapstick.

Running time is about 80 minutes. The producers say the show is suitable for families and audiences aged five and over, positioning it as a shared Christmas outing rather than a late-night immersive thriller. Shorter than many traditional pantos, the length suits a walking route through a heritage house where concentration and comfort both matter.

Why East Riddlesden Hall matters for regional Christmas theatre

East Riddlesden Hall sits on Bradford Road in Riddlesden, Keighley (BD20 5EL). As a National Trust property known for Jacobean architecture and grounds, it offers a ready-made fairytale shell that Electric Press wants to treat as a character in the piece, not a blank black-box hire.

That choice fits a wider regional pattern: Christmas programming spreading beyond city playhouses into heritage sites, outdoor trails and non-traditional rooms. For West Yorkshire families, an immersive panto on the National Trust estate is a different proposition from a traditional civic-theatre Christmas show, and it underlines how producers are chasing distinctive venues as much as familiar titles. Elsewhere on the regional circuit, British Theatre is already covering touring drama such as Private Peaceful, and our recent production-photo feature on the Private Peaceful UK tour shows how northern and touring dates sit alongside Christmas programming like this Keighley Cinderella.

Electric Press says it focuses on immersive work in non-traditional environments and on developing new writing with creatives and cast members from or based in the North of England. The company aims to keep around half of its productions based in the North, with a particular focus on Yorkshire. Recognition cited by the producers includes the Stage Debut Awards, UK Theatre Awards and Fringe Theatre Awards.

Staging Cinderella here also puts a classic title into conversation with Bradford and Keighley's visitor economy. Families already travelling for National Trust days out can treat the show as an evening extension of a hall visit, while local audiences get a Christmas title that does not require a trip into Leeds or Manchester city centres. Immersive capacity will always be tighter than a large civic auditorium, so the December window and the cast size suggest a carefully scaled run rather than an open-ended panto marathon.

Dates, tickets and what happens next on British Theatre

Confirmed dates are Friday 4 December to Wednesday 23 December 2026 at East Riddlesden Hall, with press night on opening night. Producer box-office details have been issued via Citizen Ticket for Cinderella: An Immersive Pantomime Experience. Social channels for the production are listed as @cinderellaimmersivepanto.

There is not yet a live British Theatre show page for this East Riddlesden Hall title, so we are not linking a first-party booking path here. The Lyric Hammersmith Cinderella listing on this site is a different production and is not the Keighley immersive dates. We will update this story with a British Theatre show-page link once the title is inventory-live.

For now, the cast announcement confirms a full company, a clear December window, and a West Yorkshire heritage setting for a family immersive pantomime that rewrites the midnight ending on purpose. Watch this space for booking updates as soon as a verified British Theatre show page is available.