YORK actor Gordon Kane is making his Harrogate Theatre pantomime debut as the dame in Aladdin, playing Widow Twankey to Tim Stedman’s Wishee Washee in Tim’s tenth panto season in the spa town.

Gordon could have been playing a big part in Coronation Street instead – he ended up appearing in a couple of episodes as the secretary of a golf club – but he is delighted to be on dame duty.

“I was at Harrogate doing Lucky Sods earlier this year, and I got talking with David Bown, the chief executive, about the dame as he was co-writing the show,” says Gordon, who has played dame once before at the Leeds City Varieties.

“I’d auditioned for dame in Hannah Chissick’s time as artistic director at Harrogate and was a bit disappointed not to get it, so I was saying this to David, and he said ‘Would you like to do it this year?’, and with York having a regular dame in Berwick Kaler at the Theatre Royal, Harrogate is the nearest theatre to where I live, so I’ve always cherished it.

“I love the fact it’s a really traditional show with fantastic costumes, and there’s a great emphasis on the story, which I like too.”

He is chuffed to be playing Widow Twankey. “She’s one of the best-known dame roles, and Aladdin is my favourite pantomime. It’s the story I love the most,” says Gordon.

“Playing dame is unique but it’s also such a shared experience because of the fun you have with the audience and the cast. It’s that thing of being able to respond to the audience, which I know you can do in some of John Godber’s plays, but you wouldn’t expect them to shout ‘Behind You’ in those plays!”

• Aladdin is running at Harrogate Theatre until January 16. Box office: 01423 502116.