DESPITE attempts to bring back the pantomime in South Zeal, the show has been cancelled due to a lack of interest in joining the cast.
Producer Roger Partridge said it was with regret that he had to call off 'The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe' due to be staged in the Victory Hall in South Zeal next week but he had no choice.
'The commitment was not really there. Early on I called a couple of meetings and we had about 50 people who filled in a form and all seemed keen to do it but as time went on the numbers went down.
'Sometimes we had enough to make some noise and other times we did not. At one rehearsal we only had five people turn up and once I ended up reading three or four parts to keep the thing going.'
Mr Partridge, who was asked to have a go at reviving the panto in South Zeal because of his success with Okehampton's Courtenay Players, said the village used to have a thriving amateur dramatic society and all the signs had been there to make it a success.
'At one time, South Zeal had a wonderful reputation for doing panto but bringing it back did not generate the interest we expected. Without a chorus we could not really pull it off because people are paying money to come and see a good show.'
Mr Partridge said he was sorry for the people who had joined the cast and put in a great deal of hard work. He hoped that sometime in the future they might be able to star in a variety show in the village.