... NORTHAMPTON Royal CINDERELLA IS said to be the best loved of all the pantomime stories and from this production it is easy to see why. All the necessary ingredients are there for a traditional family show: romance, slapstick, magic, dance and song. But the main reason for the success of this year's offering and it is superior to others of recent years is that the familiar fare has been ...

... MANCHESTER Library ONCE AGAIN Manchester Library Theatre was first off the mark with the city's round of Christmas shows, David Wood's highly imaginative The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner being the choice. David Wood's fancy ranges far and wide in this specialised field, and one sometimes wondered what happened before he came on to the theatrical scene. The plotters of Cabbage Parch ...

... STOCKPORT Cinderella LOOKING BACK over many years of pantomime, is it simply advancing years which suggests that this particular form has become coarsened and has lost some of its magic? The thought is prompted by this pre sentation of Cinderella at the Daven port, Stockport. Originally, after all, Cin derella was a fairy story about a poor, badly-treated girl who falls in love with and is ...

... SOUTHPORT TRAFFORD PARNELL Productions again maintain their reputation for a good all-round family show with their lively presentation of Jack and the Beanstalk. This is the 15th successive pantomine in the resort by the long-standing team of Tommy Trafford and Ronnie Parnell for Sefton Metro Council. Well dressed and presented as usual, the storyline by Ronnie Parnell is packed with fun ...

... STIRLING THE final impression of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the MacRobert Arts Centre is that it shows a sense of dedication by the cast and production team. The company is short of help from the script and rely on the drollery of the seven dwarfs and the expertise of Una McLean and John Grieve, who draw upon their understanding of childlike audiences to develop the fun. The ...

... The Plantagenet Saga NAG'S HEAD CONDENSING eight Shakespeare historical plays into an evening's performance is a feat achieved with exceptional success by Kenneth McClellan--a one-man dramatic compilation, coherently put together with great attention to detail, continuity and sustained erest for the Wandsworth Theatre Campaign, at the Nag's Head, Battersea. From Richard II, through the ...

... Jumpers LEATHERHEAD TOM STOPPARD'S play Jumpers, about gymnastics-- oris it about abstract philosophy, metaphysics, or theology, was well received at the Thorndike, Leatherhead. The audience guffawed without necessarily accepting the more obvious witticisms and laughed gently in case there was something in the abstract which, in any case, Frank Thornton made to sound, funny. He starts well ...

... GRAVESEND ASTUTE READERS will notice that both Gravesend and Dartford are presenting Cinderella this year, although the towns are only six miles apart. Dartford, as previously reported in The Stage, has taken the clash in its stride But for Gravesend, returning to panto after three years of Christmas Crack ers, it's a blow they could have done without. Producer Bob Bruce is still seething ...

... DARTFORD ONE of the most popular and oftenperformed pantomimes, Cinderella, was the choice of both the Orchard, Dartford, and the theatre at nearby Gravesend. A pity one of the two could not agree to give way and stage a different panto, since two Cinderellas in such close proximity cannot but have an adverse effect on the box office of each At Dartford Dickie Henderson (But tons) and ...

... LEATHERHEAD SPACE-AGE pantomimes have been shooting up in recent years and may one day out-distance the traditional Christmas show, although one suspects there will always be an element of the old tradition in the plot. Aladdin at Leatherhead was as flat as a pancake on the first night until blast-off of the Royal Palace. Then the show lifted as modern youth recognised the thrust that sent a ...

... BROMLEY THE AMERICAN musical, The Wizard of Oz, is the Christmastide show being staged by the Churchill, Bromley, until January 21 It is puzzling that the man agement chose to ignore the never- failing demand for traditional panto mime and put on a play that does not include audience participation and is not in a British setting. Popular comic actor Charlie Drake was completely wasted, ...

... POOLE RADIO AND television have now taken over from the pop world in providing new stars for pantomime, and at the Towngate this Christmas, both Sally James, the Tiswas girl from ITV, and Radio One disc jockey Dave Lee Travis have been making their pantomime debuts in Aladdin. Sally has the title role and very at home in the part she proves, estab lishing a quick rapport with the audience, ...