Working hard to deliver a festive treat, staff at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) and Cast managed to screen the Christmas pantomime live into wards, providing seasonal smiles for patients staying at the hospital.
The Cast’s sold-out audience of 600 were joined by over 200 at DRI as the show was streamed via the Internet onto televisions and for one special screening for off-duty staff and their children in the hospital’s Lecture Theatre. With plenty of ‘boos’, hisses and ‘he’s behind you!’ both audiences fully committed to the pantomime spirit, with parts of the performance directed at the audience, comfortably watching a mile away.
Masterminded by the Trust’s Director of Estates and Facilities, Dr Kirsty Edmondson Jones, and Cast’s Head of Communications and Marketing, Sian Dudley, the pair wanted to make patient’s hospital stay that little bit more enjoyable this Christmas. With the help of both organisations’ IT teams, the pantomime’s talented performers and a little Xmas magic, the show was also available to patient’s accessing the hospital’s brand new public WiFi, bringing the theatre to the bedside for some.
Sian Dudley, Head of Marketing and Communications at Cast, said: ‘To have families in a packed out theatre and plenty of deserving folk at DRI enjoying the same performance from across town was truly magical! What made it extra special was that everyone joined in like we were all in the same room. We can’t wait for Robin Hood next year because bringing people together to share in the arts is what Cast does best.’
Featuring breath-taking special effects, glittering sets and stunning costumes, this year’s show, Beauty and the Beast, is jam-packed with sing-along-tunes and is the perfect festive treat for all ages.
Kirsty Edmondson Jones, Director of Estates and Facilities at the Trust, said: “I want to thank everyone at Cast for this special performance, as well as everyone who helped to make this happen. The show proved to be a fantastic success, and I want also want to thank our caterers, Sodexo, who provided yummy selection boxes and refreshments to everyone who attended our screening in the Trust’s Lecture Theatre as well as on wards.”
With such fantastic feedback, the Trust and the theatre are planning for a repeat performance next year.