Newbury Panto: Sleeping Beauty from £20.25, Watermill £15

Newbury has two Christmas shows, and they are not the same kind of night out. The Corn Exchange has a full pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, from Friday 27 November 2026 to Saturday 2 January 2027. The Watermill at Bagnor has a musical, Pinocchio, from Wednesday 25 November to Sunday 3 January. Both are on sale now, and the cheapest way into each is a specific set of dates rather than a concession.

Newbury pantomime 2026 at a glance

Both casts were on the theatres’ own show pages when we re-read them on 4 October 2026, along with a sixth Corn Exchange access performance that was not there in September.

Sleeping Beauty, Corn Exchange Newbury

The Corn Exchange prices its panto in five bands, and the gap between the cheapest and the dearest seat is nearly £17. From the theatre’s own show page:

Group bookings of more than 10 go through the box office on 01635 522733.

The three cheapest performances are the previews, and there are only three: Friday 27 November at 7pm, and Saturday 28 November at 1pm and 5pm. After that you are into off-peak at best.

The show is by Plested, Brown and Wilsher, set in the Berkshire School for the Best Behaved, and the theatre puts it as suitable for all ages. It is supported by Rivar Ltd.

The Sleeping Beauty cast

The Corn Exchange has now named the company:

Adult Only nights

Six performances are billed as Adult Only, and they are the priciest band. If you are booking for a family, avoid them:

Friday 4 December 8pm, Thursday 10 December 8pm, Friday 11 December 8pm, Thursday 17 December 8pm, Friday 18 December 8pm, and New Year’s Eve at 6.30pm.

Access performances, and one the theatre does not list

In September the Corn Exchange’s Special Performances box named only one access performance while its calendar listed four. By 4 October the box had caught up and added a fifth, so there are now five:

• Sunday 6 December, 4pm: Relaxed and British Sign Language interpreted. This is the one in the summary box.
• Sunday 13 December, 12pm: Captioned and relaxed.
• Tuesday 15 December, 1.30pm: British Sign Language interpreted. New to the theatre’s list since September, and a weekday matinee, so it sits among the school-day performances.
• Monday 28 December, 1pm: Dementia friendly.
• Tuesday 29 December, 5pm: Audio described and relaxed.

All four of the weekend and holiday ones are tagged off-peak on the theatre’s own date list, which is a useful coincidence.

The days it is not on

There is no performance on Christmas Day or on New Year’s Day. The theatre is also dark on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 November, and on Mondays 7, 14 and 21 December. The run ends with two shows on Saturday 2 January, at 1pm and 5pm.

Christmas week is the densest part of the run: Wednesday 23 December has three performances, at 11am, 3pm and 7pm, as does Saturday 19 December, at 11.30am, 3.30pm and 7.30pm.

The venue is the Corn Exchange, Market Place, Newbury RG14 5BD. The box office is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm, or until 7pm on performance days, and Sunday 11am to 4pm.

Pinocchio, the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor

The Watermill is not doing a pantomime. It is reviving its 2024 musical Pinocchio, written by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Simon Reade, which its own show page says was rated one of the Guardian’s top 10 theatre shows that year.

Tickets are from £15, the running time is 1 hour 55 minutes, and the age guidance is “most suitable for ages 4+, but all ages are welcome”. The theatre flags that the show contains haze, smoke, flashing lights and pyrotechnics, and that there are moments of peril including imprisonment.

The first week is thin, and that is easy to miss when booking. After the opening run of Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 November, there is nothing until Saturday 5 December. Through early December it plays Saturdays and Sundays only. Daily performances start on Monday 21 December.

The Watermill has no performances on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day: the last show before Christmas is 3pm on Thursday 24 December, and it picks up again at 2.30pm on Sunday 27 December. From 21 December most days have shows at 11am and 3pm; Sunday 27 December and Saturday 2 January are at 2.30pm and 7pm.

The cast, from the Watermill’s show page: Jax Guerrero as Pinocchio, Christopher Bianchi as Geppetto, Fred Double as Cricket, Polly Lister as Signora Geppetto and the Fox, Eddy Payne as the Cat, Megan Keaveny as the Good Fairy and onstage swing, Jacoba Williams as the Carabiniere, and James Hall as onstage musical director.

Before the run starts, the theatre has a Pinocchio Family Fun Day on Tuesday 27 October, 10.30am to 2pm, in the half-term week.

Watermill access performances

• Saturday 5 December, 2.30pm: audio described and captioned.
• Saturday 12 December, 2.30pm: relaxed performance.
• Sunday 13 December, 3pm: signed and captioned.

The run ends on Sunday 3 January 2027 with performances at 11am and 3pm.

Eating there

The Watermill sells a dinner and drink package on the first three nights, Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November at 7pm: a main course from its winter warmer menu and a drink for £17.50 an adult and £10 a child. Under-16s get a free hot chocolate and sweet treat before the show on the opening night, Wednesday 25 November. The theatre’s date list also tags the 26th and 27th with that offer, while its own offer text names only the 25th, so ask when booking if you are going on the Thursday or Friday.

The theatre is at Bagnor, Newbury RG20 8AE, and the box office is 01635 46044.

Which one to book

If you want a traditional pantomime, with morning school matinees and adult-only late shows, that is the Corn Exchange. If you want a straight musical with a shorter running time and a lower entry price, that is the Watermill. The Watermill’s weekend-only pattern through early December makes it the harder of the two to fit around a working week.

Getting there and parking

The Corn Exchange is in Market Place, inside the town centre pedestrian and cycle zone, which since September 2026 reopens to traffic at 5pm rather than 11pm. Evening performances are therefore easier to drive close to than they used to be. Car park tariffs and free periods are on our parking in Newbury page, and anything live on the roads is on Newbury roadworks and travel.

The Watermill is at Bagnor, less than two miles north west of Newbury town centre as the crow flies but reached by narrow lanes, so allow more time than the mileage suggests.

The rest of the festive diary, including the switch-ons and the Festival of Light procession, is on our Newbury Christmas lights page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Newbury pantomime in 2026?

Sleeping Beauty at the Corn Exchange, Market Place, from Friday 27 November 2026 to Saturday 2 January 2027. It is the only traditional pantomime in Newbury this Christmas; the Watermill’s Pinocchio is a musical.

How much are Newbury panto tickets?

At the Corn Exchange, previews are £20.25, off-peak £26.25 to £31, peak £29 to £35.75, adult nights £31.75 to £37 and schools £14, with a £1 ticket for babies under 18 months. Pinocchio at the Watermill is from £15.

Is the Newbury panto on Christmas Day?

No. Neither the Corn Exchange nor the Watermill has a performance on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Boxing Day differs: Sleeping Beauty plays at 12pm and 4pm on Saturday 26 December, while the Watermill is dark until Sunday 27 December.

Who is in Sleeping Beauty at the Corn Exchange Newbury?

Aoife Haakenson plays Sleeping Beauty, Harry Sweetman is Prince Peter and Graham Mackay-Bruce is Madam Marvellous, with Grace Kelly Miller, Jenny Perry and Jacob Aldcroft.

Every price, date and time above was first read on 3 September 2026 from the Corn Exchange’s and the Watermill’s own show pages, and re-read on 4 October 2026: prices and run dates unchanged, casts, the 15 December BSL performance, the Watermill’s dark days and the three-night dinner offer added.