Bath Panto 2026: Beauty and the Beast, 10 Dec to 10 Jan

The Theatre Royal Bath pantomime for 2026 is Beauty and the Beast, running in the Main House from Thursday 10 December 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027. That is 53 performances, and the theatre’s booking pages are already open (Theatre Royal Bath).

The five days there is no panto

Most days carry two performances, either 2pm and 7pm or 1pm and 5.30pm. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve move to 11am and 3pm. Opening night, Thursday 10 December, is a single 7pm show.

There are no performances on 14 and 18 December, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day or 4 January. Those two December dark days are the ones people get caught by, because they are an ordinary Monday and Friday in the middle of the run.

Every performance, with its time

All 53 dates, taken from the theatre’s own booking calendar, last counted on 4 October 2026. Times are as the theatre prints them. The price band beside each show is our reading of the theatre’s Spektrix booking system on the same day (see the next section for what the bands cost).

One pattern that falls out of the calendar and is easy to miss when you are booking a Friday: three of the run’s five Fridays have no panto at all, 18 December, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Only 11 December and 8 January carry performances. If Friday is the day that suits your family, there are just two to choose from in a month-long run.

The other quirk is the shift in start times after Christmas. Up to 23 December the standard pattern is 2pm and 7pm; from Boxing Day it becomes 1pm and 5.30pm, an hour and a half earlier in the evening, which matters if you were planning dinner around it.

Who is in it

Marc Baylis, Rob Donovan in Coronation Street, plays the villain Hugo Pompidou. The script is by Bath’s Jon Monie, who is also onstage as Louis La Plonk, with Nick Wilton returning as Dame Polly La Plonk. Amelia Adams (Jersey Boys, Hairspray, Spamalot) plays Belle and Shani Cantor (Oklahoma!, Kiss Me, Kate) is Fairy Bon Bon. The production is by UK Productions.

Note that the theatre’s own Christmas landing page still says “further star casting to be announced”. The event page has since named the full principal cast, so the landing page is behind.

Bath panto 2026 tickets: prices, and which dates are cheapest

The theatre prices performances in three bands:

• Red: from £14 to £38.50. School discounts apply.
• Amber: from £14 to £53.25. Regular, group and school discounts apply.
• Green: from £14 to £55.50. No discounts apply.

The theatre’s event page lists the bands but not which show sits in which. Its booking system does, and on 4 October 2026 it put the 53 shows into 7 Red, 24 Amber and 22 Green:

• Red, the cheapest: only the weekday matinees outside the school holidays, at 2pm on Friday 11, Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 December, and Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 January.
• Green, the dearest: every show from Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 December except the Monday 21 December evening, plus the evening shows on 28, 29, 30 December, 2 and 3 January and both New Year’s Eve shows.
• Amber: everything else, including opening night, the first weekend (12 and 13 December), the afternoon shows on 28, 29 and 30 December and 2 and 3 January, and the whole final stretch from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 January.

In the booking system a top-price seat (Price Band A) is £37 on a Red matinee, £51.75 on an Amber show and £53 on a Green one before the theatre’s per-ticket fee, which is why the theatre’s fee-inclusive tops read £38.50, £53.25 and £55.50. Seats further back step down in price within each band. The concession types (under 16, over 60, student, unwaged) appear only on Amber shows, which matches the theatre’s line that concessions apply to Amber performances; on Red and Green shows an under-16 ticket costs the same as an adult’s.

Concessions are £3 off Amber performances for children, OAPs and JSA claimants. The Family Saver is four tickets for £98 at Red, £116 at Amber and £130 at Green, Grand Circle only.

The early group offer has now closed. Groups got £2 off per ticket on Red performances, and 20% off Amber performances with a further £2 off per ticket, only if they booked and paid before 30 September. The lines were still on the theatre’s event page when we re-read it on 4 October 2026, so ring the box office on 01225 448844 to ask what a group pays now rather than assume either rate. Schools pay £20 or £18 a ticket on Red and Amber performances with a minimum of eight.

Two things worth knowing about those numbers. Main House ticket prices “include all applicable fees”, so there is no booking charge added at checkout. And the theatre’s separate offer for teachers and PTAs on January matinees was tied to a reservation deadline of Friday 24 July, which has passed, though the line is still on the page; ring the box office rather than assume it is dead.

Access performances

All five are dated, which is more than most theatres publish this far ahead:

• Relaxed: Sunday 13 December, 1pm, and Wednesday 30 December, 2pm
• Audio-described: Sunday 20 December, 1pm, and Tuesday 29 December, 1pm, with a touch tour at 11.30am for audio-described bookers
• BSL interpreted: Saturday 9 January, 2pm

The rest of Christmas at the Theatre Royal

The panto is not the only festive show, and the two big alternatives are cheaper and shorter, which matters with young children.

Arthur is at the egg, the theatre’s children’s venue, from 19 November to 3 January, 53 performances. It is an egg and Polka Theatre co-production, age 6 and up, and runs 1 hour 45 including an interval. Tickets are £15.50 to £25.50 including fees, schools pay £10 with an eleventh ticket free for every ten booked. Four relaxed performances are dated: Friday 27 November 10am, Thursday 3 December 2pm, Sunday 20 December 3.30pm and Tuesday 29 December 11.30am (the egg).

A Child’s Christmas in Wales is in the Ustinov Studio from 9 to 24 December, 27 performances, one hour with no interval. Emma Rice Company returns it after a sell-out run at Christmas 2025. Two performances are billed as Babes in Arms, for parents with babies under 12 months: Sunday 13 December 11am and Tuesday 22 December 11am (Ustinov Studio).

Guy Masterson brings his one-man A Christmas Carol to the Main House, and there is a Carols and Christmas Dinner event at The Dukes Hotel (Christmas at the Theatre Royal Bath).

Getting there

The theatre is on Sawclose, BA1 1ET, a five minute walk from Bath Spa station and inside the area affected by Bath Christmas Market road closures for most of December. Evening performances and the market’s 8pm Thursday to Saturday close overlap, so allow for a busy city centre. See parking in Bath for tariffs and roadworks and travel for current closures. The box office is on 01225 448844, open 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

Every date, time and price above was checked against the Theatre Royal’s own pages on 4 September 2026 and re-checked on 29 September and 4 October 2026, including the full performance calendar, the three price bands, the Family Saver, the school discounts and all five access dates. Nothing had moved apart from the group deadline passing.

Bath panto 2026: quick answers

What is the Bath panto for 2026? Beauty and the Beast at the Theatre Royal Bath, Thursday 10 December 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027, with Marc Baylis as the villain and Nick Wilton as the Dame.

How much are Bath panto tickets? From £14 on every show, up to £38.50 on a Red matinee, £53.25 on an Amber show and £55.50 on a Green one, all including fees. A Family Saver of four Grand Circle seats is £98, £116 or £130 depending on the band.

Which Bath panto dates are cheapest? The seven Red weekday matinees: 11, 15, 16 and 17 December and 5, 6 and 7 January, all at 2pm.

Is there a Bath panto on Christmas Day? No. There is also no show on 14 or 18 December, New Year’s Day or 4 January.