FOR nearly six years, Stuart Wade played Biff Fowler in Yorkshire Television’s country soap Emmerdale.

His career has since taken in co-founding the Theatre-Play drama schools, playing Dr Frankenstein for Hull Truck, and making progress as a producer and director.

After directing several shows for New Pantomime Productions, Stuart returns to York to combine playing Muddles with directing Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at the Grand Opera House, where he previously appeared as Buttons in Cinderella and Simple Simon in Jack And The Beanstalk. CHARLES HUTCHINSON catches up with him.

What attracted you to directing, Stuart?

“This is my sixth, possibly seventh, show so there are a few under the belt now, and for me it always seemed like a natural progression. The beauty of it is that once you put on the director’s cap, you can still do the acting as well.

“I first worked with Simon Barry, our producer, in 1999-2000 and I’ve worked with this company ever since then. I understand his scripts and his format and I agree with his idea of what panto should be wholeheartedly.”

And what should panto be?

“It’s for the children, and having children myself I know they’re going to enjoy this kind of show. I think if a five-year-old can understand it, we’re doing the right thing as it’s often their first experience, and as a parent, if your child is happy, then you’re happy as well.

“Simon knows my strengths and what I believe in and the style of panto I like, and we both want the same results.”

How has your directing progressed?

“As I’ve got older, I feel more confident because with age comes experience. It’s just a happy place to be. I like being able to steer the ship and in a very short space of time you get something that is a complete show, which is a phenomenal task when the actors don’t know each other at first. So you get the show on stage, you make a few mistakes at the start and the audiences love that and away you go!”

You have to get Snow White to the stage in less than a fortnight. How do you do it?

“Simon has chosen the cast, and I’ve directed this show twice before – last year I did it in Torquay – and you just don’t have time to waste.

“Sometimes you’ve worked with some of the cast before, like Lynne McGranger, so you know their capabilities and that they can bring something to it, maybe a memory of how things were played last time. As a rule, you’re looking for a mixture of the old and the new.”

What do you think will be the distinguishing feature of your first Grand Opera House panto?

“What I try to do is create magic. I’m a lover of magic and having kids now, even more so. Disney creates illusions and characters, and the bigger the characters are in pantomime, the more enjoyment the audience is going to get.”

• Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Grand Opera House, York, from next Friday to January 3. Box office: 0844 847 2322

Did you know?

Stuart Wade will star in Kate Bramley’s new one-man show about author James Herriot, on tour from May to July next year, for Green Hammerton company Bad Apple Theatre.