THE story of Richmond’s Georgian Theatre Royal's rediscovery has been woven into the plot of this year's pantomime Sleeping Beauty.

The action starts in 1788, the year Samuel Butler opened his theatre in the town. As the plot unfolds the theatre and the inhabitants are put to sleep.

Their awakening at the start of the second act is set in 1939, the year the theatre was rediscovered by history master Edwin Bush and his sixth form pupils at Richmond Grammar School after decades of use as commercial premises.

Teacher and pupils appear alongside recognisable characters including the princess, king and queen, a wicked fairy, good fairy and even a dragon.

“The two sleeping beauties in this year’s production are Princess Aurora and the theatre,” said Clare Allen, who wrote and produced the show.

“The theatre was essentially asleep for almost 100 years and had various uses, including auction house, furniture depot and paper store. It was only when Edwin Bush led an investigation into the building that its true identity was rediscovered and it could be restored to its original purpose.

“The parallels are obvious and we wanted to bring the two together as a celebration of the theatre’s remarkable history,” she added.

Along with essential pantomime ingredients – jokes, songs, dances and a dame – a special feature is a huge knitted patchwork quilt that forms part of the magical enchantment.

A knitted element is an important component of Richmond pantomimes, and this year people in the community knitted hundreds of woollen squares for the quilt.

The cast includes the return of Gary "Gacko" Bridgens as Queen Tryphosa, starring in his ninth Richmond pantomime and fifth as dame. He is joined by Ross Dean as King Samuel, who played the Tin Man in last year’s The Wizard of Oz. Also from that show are Nick O’Connor as Maleficent and Freya Mawhinney as Dolly Partridge.

Making their debuts in Richmond are Victoria West as Princess Aurora and Conor Hinds as her love interests Dave and Hercules.

As well as playing dame, Bridgens makes his debut as pantomime director. Daniel Bowater returns for the ninth year as musical director, being a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer and arranger, together with musician Joey Leyland. The chorus includes members of the Georgian Theatre Royal Youth Theatre.

Sleeping Beauty follows previous in-house pantomime productions Mother Goose, The Adventures of Sinbad, Babes in the Wood, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and The Wizard of Oz. It runs until Sunday, January 13.

Tickets cost £9 and are available from the box office on 01748 825252 or via georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk.