Theatre bosses in Wolverhampton have found a way of saving money on their panto costs this year - by hiring children to play dwarfs.
The Grand Theatre's production of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs - starring pantomime stalwarts Linda Lusardi and two of The Grumbleweeds - has seven children in the eponymous roles, each wearing dwarf costumes and masks, and using pre-recorded dwarf voices.
The panto's executive producer, Jonathan Kiley, defended the decision as a financial one. "It costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to put the show on but we have to balance that," he said. "Money isn't limitless and dwarfs are very, very expensive."
But the move has disappointed not just audience members ("I could go to any amateur production and see children playing dwarfs," one told the Daily Telegraph), but dwarf actors, too.
"It's not fair at all - it destroys the magic," said Peter Burroughs, director of Willow Management. "I had one guy on our books who was due to perform there. He is absolutely devastated... These guys are trying to earn a living wage. It's not very nice to be exploiting them like this and I hope the general public see this. To me this is plain greedy."
Of course, there was a rather large clue that this was coming back in July - when the Grand Theatre announced it would be auditioning "young people [who] must be a minimum of 4ft 1in and no taller than 4ft 8in and must be aged 8 years and above" for "the seven famous characters". (see the Express & Star video report below).
Still, it hasn't stopped the pantomime receiving rave reviews. Well, one so far, at least. The Shropshire Star says this production "ticks all the boxes - great singing, colourful costumes, brilliant baddie and plenty of gags", though stops short of mentioning the children-dressed-as-dwarves aspect. Although perhaps that's what they mean by "plenty of dazzling costumes and special effects"..?