"The Andaman has the potential of becoming a truly world-class tourist and retirement region if it can
evolve into a more integrated cosmopolitan environment," declares Baz Daniel, and you're wont to believe anyone in a crisp white shirt with ruffles and a pince-nez.

While Baz can be more casually dressed for the beach, as the Squire in the Mother Goose pantomime held at the Green Man, he is seriously contemplative. "One aspect of such an evolution is a thriving arts and cultural scene," he declares.

The enthusiasm is infectious, even if, thankfully enough, his fashion sense isn't. "it's behind you"....the ghost is behind you," screamed an excited children sitting in front of the stage at the pantomime.

"Oh no, he's not," shouted Mother Goose, played by one Tony Kelsey-Stead, wearing highly unflattering female attire including huge false bosoms and scarlet lipstick as befits a pantomime dame in this traditional British theatrical form.

Come Christmas last year, right here in tropical Phuket, the auditorium was full of energetic kids and their delighted parents enjoying the audience participation that is always a part of panto. The newly formed Andaman Players (www.theandamanplayers.spaces.live.com) brought the house down with their opening production in late December, playing to two full houses and sending a host of excited children and their relieved parents home well satisfied.

English pantomime, however, can be considered a bit of a "no brainer" as far as attracting a theatre audience is concerned. Parents are on the lookout for any diversion for their lovely little monsters during the school holidays and they will come to a pantomime almost as a matter of habit, no matter how good the quality of the production may be.

The long-term proof of the theatrical pudding is in the ability to attract an ongoing audience of adults on a regular basis to a wide range of theatrical types of productions ranging from comedy to tragedy, from musical dinner theatre, to excerpts from Shakespeare perhaps. This level of cultural engagement is unknown territory as far as the Andaman Players and Phuket is concerned. There have already been a number of attempts to bring more theatrically-based culture to the island in the shape of stand-up comedy at the Patong Holiday Inn, and at the Watermark in the Boat Lagoon.

The Green Man brought Daniel Foley's one-man comedic Shakespeare night to its auditorium for a night of dinner theatre last year, and Skippers Bar and Restaurant at Royal Phuket Marina is set to host a light operetta soon. The British International School Phuket is also doing its bit. The school's drama group will be presenting a production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit this coming April.

A fair appraisal of these efforts to date would be that they can just about command enough of an audience to break even, but that English theatrically-based entertainment is not yet being greeted with high levels of enthusiasm and patronage. So, it would appear that Phuket is at a critical time in the evolution of culture and English-language theatre and that is exactly why The Andaman Players (or TAP as they are known) have banded together with a mission of driving the growth and acceptance of all forms of theatre around the Andaman region over the next few years.

Drawn together by the opportunity to perform, the group's base consists of a dynamic composite of happy amateurs, experienced actors and the odd megalomaniac director.

But in the end, "It's all about an audience having fun then going home and telling their friends what
a great night out they had. That's how a theatre group succeeds," says Simon J Hand, writer and director of the Mother Goose pantomime.

TAP??'s first production targeting an adult audience will be an evening of short comedies presented as dinner theatre at the Green Man with a cocktail party on the lawn to start proceedings with an alcoholic bang, followed by a three-or-four-course dinner with wine as part of the evening's package.

Each of three comedies will run for about 25 minutes, with food and drinks being served in between the plays. The comedies themselves are tried and true audience pleasers with lots of laughs, yet still demanding a high level of professionalism of the actors and directors.

Tony Kelsey-Stead, Mother Goose himself and the driving force behind the gestation of TAP says, "Many people might not have been to that much theatre and think that it's high brow and not for them. We think that good humour and comedy are the easiest way of attracting a wide audience, who then come to realise just how enjoyable a night of theatre and dinner can be. We certainly want to present more serious theatre once we are well established, but in the early stages of TAP we think that comedies are definitely the way to win the audience's hearts and send them home happy."


The Andaman Players present a night of comedy and dinner theatre at the Green Man featuring three plays: Scuba Lessons by Joseph Zeccola; The Problem by A.R Gurney; Introduction to Andaman Am. Dram by TAP??'s own Simon Hand

7:30 pm Friday March 7th
Cocktail reception on the lawn, three course dinner and
the three comedies 950 Baht

7:30 pm Saturday March 8th
Cocktail reception on the lawn, four course dinner
including wine and the three comedies 1,500 Baht

4pm Sunday March 9th
The three comedies with refreshments available during the interval 350 Baht

Please call Khun Nui on (0) 76 28 1445-51 or
email: info@the-green-man.net
www.the-green-man.net and
www.theandamanplayers.spaces.live.com