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Assistant editor turns thespian for panto run

An assistant editor will be treading the boards of his local theatre later this month when he appears in a Christmas panto.

Martin Tideswell, from Stoke daily The Sentinel, is playing Alderman FitzSentinel in Dick Wittington at the Hanley Regent Theatre.

He is taking over on 23 December from local entertainer Pete Conway to play his character in the second half of the panto’s run.

The offer was made by Jonathan Wilkes, close friend of famous Stoke native Robbie Williams, who is playing the lead role.

Martin has been keeping a diary of his preparations ahead of the show’s opening performance last night.

He wrote: “When I broke the news to The Sentinel’s editor-in-chief, he said it was a marvellous idea. He has, rather predictably, referred to me as ‘Buttons’ ever since.

“The gaffer’s personal assistant laughed so hard at the thought of it I feared she had done herself an injury.

“But that’s kind of the reaction you’re hoping for, I guess, if you are prepared to dress up in medieval garb and tights for a bit of slapstick festive comedy.

“Working in a newsroom for 20 years makes you fairly thick-skinned anyway.”

Comments

Roger Jones (11/12/2009 17:21:44)
Well done, Martin. You seem to reaching greater hights than I. I was once the back end of a cow in Jack & The Beanstalk!
Please pass on my regards to anyone at The Sentinel who may remember me. I was a reporter there until November 1969. (Diane Gibbons, formerly Cope, is the only I know who is still there as far as I am aware.