That's because the 64-year-old is playing a dame for the second year running in the annual winter production by Cottesmore Village Players.

It's hard enough for a man to pull off the role as a matronly middle-aged woman but its even tougher for Alan because he sports a thick beard.

He took a break from learning lines for this year's offering of Wizz-o-Fozz to tell me why he loves treading the boards so much – he has been performing for the stage group now for a decade.

"It's great to hear the reaction of the audience," said Alan, who runs Market Overton Post Office and Stores in Main Street with wife Lynn. "If they have had a good time they come in the shop and say they've really enjoyed it."

Alan knows all about the role of a pantomime dame since he played the part in Dick Whittington last year. He will reprise the part in five performances of this year's show, from Wednesday January 28 through to the following Saturday at Market Overton Village Hall.

"It always difficult to cast someone as the dame and I have drawn the short straw again," said Alan. "Last year I had to wear a dress, bonnet and wig and it probably takes about an hour to get properly made up for the character.

"I shaved my beard off for the part last year but I haven't decided whether I will this year. It might cause a few problems with my make-up."

The cast, which ranges from a four-year-old child to someone in their seventies, has been rehearsing since September. Alan always finds learning his lines very difficult, especially as he is up at 6am every day to open the shop and often works through to the early evening.

He said: "It's as hard as ever to learn the lines. It's just a case of reading it and getting it set in your brain. I do tend to ad lib a bit, particularly as the dame. The rest of the cast get a bit nervous when I do because they are waiting for certain cues in the script and sometimes they don't materialise. We have a prompt if any of us do dry up on stage but when the adrenaline is running and the fear is there you tend not to do it."

This year's production is very loosely based on the Wizard of Oz. Sometimes the scripts are specially written for Cottesmore Village Players and other times they are bought in if they are traditional shows.

Alan recalled: "I have performed in a considerable number of productions and a panto every year. I've been everything and anything, from lead roles to parts in the chorus line. The pantos we put on are a very high standard for village productions. The set and the costumes are very high quality, although I don't know about some of the people on stage."

His favourite role over the last decade was that of No Nose Maldoon, a lead part in a wild west themed show set at Christmas called Bad Day at Black Frog Creek. He said the writing was especially good that year.

Cottesmore Village Players were formerly based at the Sun Inn pub at Cottesmore. They group relocated to Market Overton village hall in the late 1990s because they wanted a larger venue. It also helped that the hall was refurbished with lottery cash to include equipment for full theatre productions.

"I went to see the first panto at the village hall and I got called on to the stage to do a few things," said Alan, who has two sons, Michael and Matthew.

"I decided to get involved after that. It was something I had never done before but I thought it was a bit of a challenge.

"They needed more people the next year for Singing in the Rain and I played some sort of flunkey."

Alan was brought up in Leicester and worked originally as a design heating engineer. He has been postmaster at Market Overton for 21 years. The credit crunch has, of course, put the squeeze on small businesses.

"We survived the Post Office cuts last year and we continue to trade," said Alan. "Small Post Offices similar to ours were closed down but we should be OK as long as the Post Office stays in its present form. Unfortunately the village shop is a dying breed. Everybody is mobile these days and we can't compete with major stores. The village shop is important to the community and we have a good relationship with our customers."

There is plenty of humorous banter with callers at the shop at present with Alan's imminent performance as the panto dame. He enjoys treading the boards and says he will continue as long as he enjoys it.

"I have been considering hanging up my boots, as they say, because there is nothing worse than seeing old gits on stage," he added with a chuckle.



Tickets for Wizz-o-Fozz are available from Alan Lane's post office and stores or by telephoning 07919 287948.

They cost £5 (with £4 concessions) for the Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinee. All tickets cost £5 for the Friday and Saturday evening productions.