An actress playing Snow White in panto has an allergy to APPLES – meaning the Wicked Queen could literally KILL her.
Libby Gore would not be ‘Happy’, need a ‘Doc’ or be left permanently ‘Sleepy’ if she really sunk her teeth into the ‘poisoned’ fruit.
Producers were concerned when their leading lady revealed her unusual allergy – but in true theatre tradition, the show must go on.
Stage hands came up with a canny way she can still be seen to take a bite of the poison apple, without putting herself in danger.
Libby, 25, of Romford, Essex, is appearing alongside Edwina Currie as the Wicked Queen at the Northwich Theatre in Chester, Cheshire.
She said: “We were taking promotional photos for the production when I said I was allergic to apples and they all fell about laughing.
“If I eat an apple I break out in hives all over my body and my eyes swell up, it’s pretty scary.”
Taking the poison fruit from Edwina Currie, producers have developed a way of making the audience think Libby is taking a bite – which in the story sends her to sleep.
The actress, from Essex, added: “I’m facing the front and talking to the audience asking them whether I should eat it or not and they’re all shouting ‘no, don’t eat it.’
“Obviously I can’t eat it so I try and make it as real as possible opening my mouth as if I’m going to take a bite and then, just before I munch into it, I turn away and never actually take a bite.
“It works every time and the audience think I’ve eaten the poison apple. This is the first time that I’ve had a problem with apples in my career.”
The producer of Snow White, Anton Benson said: “We’ve known Libby for a long time and she’s worked on several productions with us, but we’ve never had to avoid her eating apples.
“She mentioned it in passing and she had to work with the director and they found a way to avoid it.”
People who suffer allergic reactions to eating apples suffer from Oral allergy syndrome.
It is the most common food-related allergy for adults, and symptoms can include mouthparts swelling to such an extent their airways are blocked and they can occasionally suffer from anaphylaxis.
People like Libby could also end up with dangerously low blood pressure, but antihistamines can be used to solve the symptoms.