Cast Announced for Playhouse Panto - Beauty and the Beast

Wiltshire Creative has announced the full cast of this year’s pantomime Beauty and the Beast, written by Plested, Brown and Wilsher.

Director Abigail Pickard Price makes her Salisbury Playhouse debut, working with the same creative team who served up a spectacle for Wiltshire Creative's 2025/26 pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. She'll be directing a sparkling cast:

Saffi Needham (Disney’s Hercules and Oliver!, Theatre Royal Drury Lane; BBC One’s Big Night of Musicals) stars as the play's fearless heroine, Belle.

Tommy Fouweather (Half a Sixpence, Frinton Summer Theatre; The Wizard of Oz, Royal Caribbean Entertainment; Rat Pack UK and international tour) stars as the cursed Beast.

Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist and viral parodist Nerine Skinner (Roald Dahl and The Imagination Seekers UK tour; Faulty Towers) returns to Salisbury after popular performances in previous pantomimes – including Wiltshire Creative’s 2018 Beauty and the Beast. This time she’ll appear as the Beast's sidekick Ratty, one half of a double act alongside Luke Barton's Batty. Luke was last seen on the Salisbury Playhouse stage in Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense.

Dan Smith (Little Robin Redbreast and Worst Wedding Ever, Salisbury Playhouse) also makes a welcome return as lovable Dame Pansy Pocock, after his acclaimed performance as Dame Caroline Trotter in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Leigh Quinn (Little Shop of Horrors, Exeter Northcott Theatre; The Government Inspector, Chichester Festival Theatre; various roles with the RSC) stars as the good Fairy Bumpkin, with Joel Benedict (Blood Brothers UK tour; As You Like It UK tour) as the bad Fairy Tight Trousers.

The cast are supported by Joe Harris (Male Swing) and Phoenix Renee (Female Swing) and a company of young performers.

Designer Katie Lias won the UK Pantomime Award for Best Costume Design 2025 for Wiltshire Creative's Sleeping Beauty and was nominated for Best Costume Design 2026 for Jack and The Beanstalk. She has additionally been nominated for three Broadway World Awards for Best Set Design.

Katie will be working with Lighting Designer Nic Farman, Wiltshire Creative’s very own Sound Designer Michael Scott, Choreographer Julia Cave, and Musical Director/Supervisor Daniel Looseley. 

Gareth Machin, Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative, said, “What a pleasure to welcome back some brilliant familiar faces to the Playhouse stage alongside new talent coming to Salisbury for the first time. It promises to be a fantastic festive season.”

Beauty and the Beast is set to open at Salisbury Playhouse on 2 December, with previews from 28 November, and will conclude on 10 January 2027.