Magical Civic Spooktacular ‘Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf’

GET ready for an action-packed adventure the whole family will love.

‘Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf’ brings a fresh and fun spin to the fairy tale you think you know. Join Little Red as she journeys through the enchanted forest of Merrywood to Glammy D Granny’s House.

They outsmart unexpected characters and discover there is more to the Big Bad Wolf than meets the eye…

With help from the bumbling yet brave Wiggles the Woodcutter, they turn the tables on the Wolf in a riotous showdown.

Will they get their happy ending, or will the big bad Wolf win the day? Find out at The Civic Halloween Spooktacular 2025.

The Civic Theatre is delighted to welcome star of the stage and screen Johnny Ward in the role of The Big Bad Wolf in this year’s Halloween Spooktacular.

This week, we sat down with Johnny to discuss ‘Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf’, which comes to the Civic from October 24 to 31; be sure to check the website for more details.

What can you tell us about the panto Johnny?

Each year, I would perform in the Stadium panto alongside Alan Hughes and, of course, Rob Murphy.

He plays Buffy in the panto alongside me and he just had an idea.

He says, “Listen, I’m thinking of actually doing another Halloween panto.”  I am really looking forward to working under him as both a writer and a director because he is extremely talented in writing, performing, and directing.

Panto doesn’t come around a lot. It comes around once a year, and it’s traditionally at Christmas.

I just love the idea of families getting together, because when you put it together, you go see a film in the cinema, and it’s a family film.

In today’s world, children are engrossed in their phones, families are disinterested, and parents are patiently waiting for the hour and a half to pass so they can finally return home.

This, once again, highlights the beauty of Rob’s writing and directing.

There are jokes intended for adults that will go over the kids’ heads. Everyone’s on their feet, and it’s going to get everyone in the spirit and in the mood for Halloween.

Would you say there’s a difference in performing for the screen versus performing for the stage?

Oh yeah, massively. I mean, I think with the screen, you must be quite limited in what you do.

Straight away, with the stage for the Pantos, you must interact with the audience; you obviously must project your voice.

We need to use much greater clarity to ensure that every single consonant and vowel is clearly heard by the audience.

You know, there’s no rewind button either.

So, yeah, I would say they’re very, very different indeed. I believe that when performing in front of a camera, you must always be aware that it is recording, so you cannot simply review the footage later.

Even if you do a slight exaggeration with your face, it just comes across so much.

To be effective in TV and film, you should strive to be as natural as possible, depending on the specific role.

Make it more theatrical by incorporating gestures and vocal projection.

In panto, you really do have the freedom to do whatever you want.

Would you say that there is an even greater difference between performing for dramas and performing for pantomimes?

Oh yeah, massive. I mean, you know, if you are performing a Shakespeare play, you can’t expect the audience to respond with, “Oh, yes, he is!”  You can’t include ad libs, but in Rob Murphy’s production, if a child shouts from the audience, “I hate you!”

“You’re a terrible Wolf!” I can just shout back, “You shut up and sit down!”

In ‘Romeo & Juliet’, you can’t say, “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” and have the audience shout, “he’s behind you!”

What would be your favourite part of working on the pantomime?

Seeing the expressions on both the kids’ and parents’ faces. Currently, there is no other show like a panto that brings all families together.

The kids can go see the ‘Wiggles’, the ‘Tweenies’, or any other shows like ‘Barney’ and the ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’, which they all love, while their parents wish they weren’t there.

Vice versa, with the parents. Parents are watching ‘Big Brother’ or ‘The Traitors’, and the kids don’t want to be there.

They’re on their phones, whereas with this, there’s something for everyone, and that’s what I really can’t wait for.

The fact that it’s Halloween is something I’ve never done before; it is going to be extremely interactive for all parents and families.

Not to mention that at the same time as this being performed at the Civic Theatre, another Rob Murphy production of ‘Hansel & Gretel’ will take place at the Ambassador Theatre, featuring George McMahon from Fair City and Niamh Kavanagh from Eurovision.

When it comes to working on a pantomime, what challenges would usually arise, and how do you navigate them?

I think one of the challenges that arise every single year is when people get sick.

We all tend to overdo it, and I am no exception, especially since I often play the role of the bad person, which leads me to shout back, causing the kids to scream.

I shout over to the kids, and I wake up on a Tuesday morning *speaking with a raspy voice*, and I’m like this!

A lot of people who have never really done panto before, they always think, “Oh, well, you don’t really have a Christmas”; for me, because I’ve been doing it so long and it’s the same for everyone else I know who is doing pantos, it doesn’t really feel like Christmas unless you’re on the stage doing a panto.

But now the main one would be losing your voice, because in the panto, you do have this tendency to shout back at the kids and all that kind of stuff, and particularly the school shows, when we’re doing them in the stadium.

Are there any projects in your pipeline after this production that you’re allowed to talk about?

I’m surprised it was only released about three weeks ago. There’s a TV show on Amazon Prime now.

I shot it in 2024, and it’s called ‘Sugar’, and it’s very much like Sons of Anarchy.

It’s been doing brilliantly; it’s been getting the number one slot in a lot of European countries, except for Ireland.

Myself and another Irish actor, Robbie Walsh, were playing Irish gangsters in it. This year I’m playing an ugly sister alongside Rob Murphy in the National Stadium Panto at Christmas which is going to be amazing. It’s something else I’ve never done; I’ve never played a dame or cross-dressed in a show before. It’s going to be very fun.

Who would you like to thank for helping with this production of the Halloween spooktacular?

Rob Murphy, and I’d say Donald Shiels as well, from Verdant Productions. And I have to say, my mother.

My mother has just been incredible.

She’s been helping me practise my lines.

She’s an amazing person, and I would have to obviously say her, because she’s just always been so helpful.