The Sub Rooms Panto Turns Five!

Date 11th Aug 2025

Looking back at four years of PJD Productions Pantomimes at The Sub Rooms!

This December will see another fantastic PJD Productions pantomime arrive The Sub Rooms for a season of festival family fun. Excitingly, this will mark the fifth anniversary of these wonderful productions making the ballroom their home!

With the end of the year still a distant blip on the horizon, we thought it could be nice to take a gentle stroll down memory lane and have a look back at what made the last four years so special.

Beauty And The Beast Dec 21 2021 DSC 6447

2021 | Beauty & The Beast

The team's Sub Rooms debut in 2021 blew all audience expectations out of the water and set the bar unimaginably high. Beauty & The Beast was a roaring success and immediately put Stroud on the map as a town where a truly special pantomime could be found.

"An original and highly entertaining take on a classic tale... [PJD Productions] enhances its reputation with this seasonal gem." - The Stage

On paper this production followed a similar path to many of those which share the same name; the story of Belle, the headstrong girl who melts the heart of a monstrous beast. The panto which greeted audiences flipped this paradigm on it's head however, putting this exceedingly creative team's penchant for reinvention on full display.

The show was packed with songs, laughs and dazzling magic effects and earned a well deserved based of local fans, hungry for future years of fun.

2022 | Cinderella

With word having spread around town and expectations tentatively high after a blockbuster first year: Phil and his team stepped up to the plate for their second bite of the cherry.

If Beauty & the Beast had been a success, then 2022's Cinderella was a glorious triumph: taking another iconic pantomime tale, turning it on it's head and spinning it until it was very dizzy indeed.

"Absolutely hilarious! Don't miss it. Stroud should be proud!" - Keith Allen

With all the same wit and flare as had been evident in the first year, this production upped the ante, bringing some show stopping set pieces into the equation including a sports car, magically brought onto the stage mid show.

The cast was a mix of new faces and recognisable returnees and gelled on stage like they'd been working together for years. Complimented once again with a chorus of young talent via Bally Hoo Dance School, what had started as unlikely success was cementing itself as a community favourite.

2023 | Snow White

Riding high and with the wind behind them, PJD Productions set their sights on gargantuan third year at the wheel.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs still holds the record among Sub Rooms pantos for fastest sales in the first three months, with a mammoth start very early in the year off the back of two widely lauded years preceding it.

Boy oh boy were those early adopters rewarded. From the prime seats which they had secured so far in advance, attendees were treated to a truly splendid show. The songs were catchier, the jokes were funnier and the dance routines were more bombastic.

Puppets formed a huge part of the production in 2023 and, without taking away from the incredible performances from a fantastically talented cast of humans, they practically stole the show.

Once again offering up entertainment which appealed to viewers from ages 1 to 100, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs still gets talked about to this day.

2024 | Robin Hood

During the 2023 production of Snow White, audiences were, for the first time, given the opportunity to vote for the panto they'd most like to see next. In the end, the results were unequivocal.

Robin Hood and the Legend of Sherwood won the popular vote by landslide. This consensus was echoed by ticket sales, with 2024 going on become the best selling Pantomime ever held at The Sub Rooms.

As well as breaking new ground with the number of attendees in the audience, the show's story was also truly ground breaking. Robin Hood is not necessarily a typical Pantomime story and, in the hands of the PJD Productions team, this ancient folk tale was utterly transformed.

The paradigms were flipped, the narratives were stretched and traditional setting of this beloved tale was effortlessly blending with 21st century themes and questions.

In another series first, an adults only version of the show was premiered, peppering the usually family friendly script with outrageous and outlandish gags.

Who's ready to celebrate 5 years of fun?

It's unbelievable to think that we've already seen four PJD Productions pantomimes in Stroud - time really has flown and we're now looking at this partnership's fifth birthday.

Christmas may be just a blip on the horizon but we are already getting excited over here and cannot wait to welcome you all back for more laughs, sing-a-longs and fun festive memories!

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