Crawley's magical Snow White panto gets a feisty princess

Lauren Cocoracchio. Picture by Paul Clapp

Lauren Cocoracchio lives in Horsham, but in every other respect she's perfectly qualified to play Snow White in Crawley's panto this year.

She was born in Crawley, she used to go to dance school in Crawley, went on to teach in the Crawley area and used to perform on The Hawth stage.

Now she is back on The Hawth stage for the pantomime running from December 8 to January 7.

It’s her third show with Evolution pantomimes, having previously featured in Sleeping Beauty for them, both at The Hawth and Theatre Royal Newcastle. She reckons she has probably done six pantomimes in all.

“Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without panto. It’s the atmosphere. It’s such a good feeling, really good family fun, and Evolution are great at picking people that work well together.

“It’s a long slog for panto. You do 50-odd performances. Sometimes you are doing three performances a day. You are together for a short but really intense period, so it is really important that you are with people that you get on with.”

Has she ever been in a show where she hasn’t?

“I have been very lucky, but in this industry, there are perhaps a few divas!”