Most pantomimes have huge casts of characters, chorus lines of children, people cantering around dressed as horses, huge dames and so on.

However, there is one panto taking place this year on the island that does away with all of that and gets by with a cast of only two.

The tiny children’s theatre group, Hello Little People, featuring actors Michelle James and Chloe Shimmin is holding ’Juan and the Magic Beanstalk’, its own Christmas show aimed at children over the Christmas period.

The show will take place in the new garden marquee at the Nunnery from Monday, December 21 to Monday, December 28, with the exception of Christmas day, featuring two shows a day, held at various times.

Running under the tagline of ’Fee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a young Manxman’, the panto will take the young audience on a journey as the two actors follow Juan, a young Manxman who catches crabs day in, day out, until one day, a mysterious event changes everything for him.

The madcap duo describe ’Juan and the Beanstalk’ as an ’alternative’ pantomime, aimed at the whole family, young and old to enjoy, promising all the popular panto ingredients with a particular ’Hello Little People’ twist.

’We are over the moon to be producing the island’s alternative pantomime,’ said Michelle.

’It’s going to be a panto like families have never seen before. The event promises to be magical, quirky and a laugh a minute.’

The theatre group was formed after both Michelle and Chloe, professional actors based in the UK, found themselves out of work in the wake of the social restrictions.

They returned to the island and launched their first production in September.

Their most recent show was ’Freaky Folklore’, a theatrical trip around the Manx Museum, in a show commissioned by Manx National Heritage.

’We set up Hello Little People to provide new theatrical experiences to the children of the Isle of Man,’ said Chloe.

’We passionately create theatre that embraces Manx culture and stories.

’We will continue to do this Christmas, with Juan and the Beanstalk.’

Tickets for the show are priced £10 for adults and £8 for children, available from hellolittlepeople.com