VIDEO: Watch EastEnders star Carli Norris talk about her latest stage role

She was in the town for the 2021-22 pantomime Sleeping Beauty; she will be back for The Little Mermaid, the Easter family spectacular, running at the Devonshire Park Theatre from Wednesday to Sunday, April 12-16; and she’s determined one day to up sticks and move to Eastbourne.

“I just love the place. I love the architecture. I love everything about it. I love the town centre and I'm really 100 per cent serious about wanting to move there. I love the south coast and I love Brighton but I think Brighton is a little bit too young for me! I want to be able walk on the beach without any music. I do love a weekend in Brighton but Eastbourne would just be perfect and I'm going to make sure it happens.”

As for The Little Mermaid, Eastbourne-based actor Nicholas Pound joins the show which rehearses in the town and then goes on tour to a couple of venues before coming back to the the Devonshire Park Theatre. Georgina Rowland-Elliott is the Little Mermaid with Prince played by Lewes Roberts. Completing the line-up is writer Tom Swift and comedy partner Ant Payne returning to the roles they created.

Carli will be Morgana, precisely the kind of baddie role that she loves: “She is the queen of the underworld and she lives in a place called Dead Man's Wreck and she's going to be great fun. I just love being the baddie. I always want to be the baddie. There's so much more you can do. If you're the goodie then you have to follow the rules and you have got to be nice to the boys and girls and you don't get to bring much comedy to it but when you are the baddie in a sense then you doing it for the parents and you can slip in some jokes that will go over the heads of the children. I just love the fact that the children boo and boo you and they recognise you and they can just shout at you to their heart’s content.”

And it is great to be back in the town where she so much enjoyed panto where she was, of course, the baddie, as usual: “I love Jordan Productions because they are really great at telling a traditional story but always with a modern twist. I really love that old fashioned sense about their shows, and the cast is always so brilliant in their pantos.”

And this show continues the theme: “The Little Mermaid is a panto. It has got all the panto elements. There's a lot of call and response and some brilliant songs. I don't have a problem with fairy tales being done for Easter and at Christmas but it tends to be in the spring that they do something fresh, not one of those shows that get done at Christmas and which are so popular. For Easter they usually go for something a little bit different.”

The Little Mermaid is at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, tickets priced £19, under-16s £16 and discounts for OVATION members and Friends of the Devonshire Park Theatre. Book at www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk or call 01323 412000. There’s a selection of family friendly timed performances: Wednesday, April 12, 6pm, Thursday, April 13, 2pm and 6pm, Friday, April 14, 11am and 2.30pm, Saturday, April 15, 2pm and 6pm and Sunday, April 16, 2.30pm.

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