... HARROGATE RONNIE HILTON stars as Wishee Washee in Harrogate Theatre's pan tomime Aladdin. The show is directed by Donald Bodley, who has produced the theatre's pantomimes for several years. This one, playing to the usual festive full houses, also features Australian Wayne Allen as Widow Twankev and comedy magician the Great Soprendo as Abanazar. This, however, is one of the weaker Donald ...

... LIVERPOOL Everyman THIS YEAR, as with most years, the Liverpool Everyman's pantomime is a homegrown, original show, entitled The Yellow Dwarf, by Bob Mason, freely adapted from a traditional tale, we are informed, but the lack of discipline in the writing (there are at a rough estimate at least rive good seasonal stories rolled into this gorgeously, extrava gantly directed show) borders ...

... BIRMINGHAM Alexandra THIS Triumph Theatre production, directed by Roger Redfarn. runs true to the long-honoured tradition of the Alexandra of giving Birmingham a true family pantomime with some-thing in it for every generation. John Morley's script is a tightly- bound mixture of classic literature, folk legend and contemporary comment; the evil demon, for example, is Demon Oilslick who causes ...

... CARDIFF Sherman THE GREAT strength of Caricature Theatre's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is that it sticks firmly to the storyline. Alan Cook has based his script on the original Grimm's fairy tale, and director Jane Phillips has seen to it that the story is told by the cast of ten with pace and punch, never losing sight of her youthful audience and their grown-ups for a moment. The ...

... OXFORD THE OXFORD NEW pantomime Mother Goose, which has already had record bookings, will scarcely disappoint any of its visitors. If, earlier in its run, it seemed a little on the long side for the smaller children who were there, it is. nevertheless, produced with a generally lively approach by Bill Roberton. The show is generally strong on comedy, with John Inman heading the cast as ...

... WESTON-SUPER-MARE PRESENTED by Lisa Baron for the Bunny Baron Organisation, this most happy, traditional style Cinderella is giving great delight to audiences. It wins on all counts. There is fidelity to clear-cut story, and presentation has the stamp of tremendous effort and sheer joy making it delightful to the eye. sus taining it with immense pace, giving romance and comedy full sway, ...

... Hotel Paradiso NOTTINGHAM THIS fine Georges Feydeau farce is the first time the talents of Nottingham playhouse and Sheffield Crucible have been combined and it works well. Nottingham s Alan Dossor cnsply directs the slickly moving tale of matrimonial subterfuge and high jinks in a disreputable Paris hotel on settings created by the Crucible's Roger Glossop. The sets, which have to cope with ...

... STOCKPORT THE DAVENPORT. Stockport, has for the past 14 years built up a reputation for the excellence of its Christmas productions, and this year's offering. Cinderella, is well in line with its predecessors. Presented by Norman Crumble and Jack Edge, its traditional storyline is backed up by strong comedy and music with attractive settings and costumes. Anne Aston, familar to TV viewers ...

... IPSWICH Wolsey THE WOLSEY has hit on a winning two-tier formula for Christmas box-office. The production for children Hans Andersen's The Snow Queen ran matinees and evenings for a week from Boxing Day; then matinees only until January 19, with Agatha Christie's The Spider's Web opening on January 3 for a run of evening performances and a few matinees until January 26. Even be fore ...

... BELFAST THE ARTS Theatre is the only professional company in Belfast with a special Christmas show. All over the city, however, amateur societies, some very good, others far from good, have been staging pantomimes and giving pleasure to many. Up in Coleraine, the fessional Interplay company have staged Pied Piper, specially writ ten for them by their director, Tony Newby Lee. Mother ...

... HEREFORD IT WAS CLEAN, entertaining and very funny, and the scenery colourful and pleasing to the eye. Magic was in the air and Hereford's first professional pan tomime for many years could be nothing but a huge success and it was. But any production is only as good as its actors, and for once the Nell Gwynne had a committed cast. Painful memories of some half hearted casts were swept from the ...

... BARNSTAPLE THE CHRISTMAS pantomime at the Queen's Hall, Barnstaple this year was an Orchard Theatre Company version of Beauty And The Beast. It was specially prepared for the occasion by the young Cornish dramatist Nick Darke, whose play Summer Trade formed part of the Orchard's most recent national tour. His treatment of the plot is traditional in the sense that he stands firmly by the ...