Danby Pantomime

A Letter to the Editor from Karen LEESE, of Fryupdale in the Esk Valley, who offers an eye-witness perspective on Danby Group Parish Council – subject of a recent Enquirer article – and a critical observation regarding the North York Moors National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting to determine the outcome of the York Potash Ltd application to mine potash within the National Park.

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Dear Mr. Editor,
 
I write as a parishioner who regularly attends the Danby Group Parish Council meetings.

This pantomime is performed monthly; it compares to a ‘League of Gentlemen’ sketch (are you local?), mixed with a Dibley version of ‘Spitting Image’.

Sadly, the audience is not welcomed or encouraged to engage, and any attempted participation is met with dismissive hostility and negative disbelief.     
 
One’s very presence in the gallery would invariably cause suspicion and violate the performers’ sense of self-importance.

This group of players are fully aware of the public’s right to film and record the pantomime. Last autumn, they discussed charging a fee for this privilege to those brave and daring enough to bring recording equipment to their venue.

Councillor Banner suggested £200 as being a sum likely to deter any Joe Public from putting his/her efforts on YouTube.

Councillor Banner’s feigned ignorance of the law as expressed to your reporter was, therefore, entirely disingenuous.
 
As a regular observer of these performances, I encourage everyone to come to the show and witness the repeated one-liner gags like “we are lay people without experience or knowledge” and “we look after our own”, the inconsistent story-lines, the saga of the public toilets and the show-stopping end of the entertainment when we guess how many hours the caretaker has been paid to collect litter in Danby and Castleton – 17 hours in May and (the biggest laugh of the evening) his claim to have spent 1 hour catching a mole (he’s behind you!).
 
Tickets are not required for a Danby Pantomime, unlike the sell-out performance of NYMNP’s  spotlight on York Potash tomorrow; no seats left – no room at The Inn, without a hint of publicity or discussion at any of their planning meetings, all of which I have made it my business to attend.      
 
Thank you for bringing DGPC kicking and screaming into the age of integrity and transparency.
 
Remember a pantomime is not just for Christmas…
 
Yours with sincerity,      
        
Karen Leese