... The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me BIRMINGHAM BIRMINGHAM Stage Company are in residence at the Old Rep with an adaptation of one of Roald Dahl's more whimsical children's stories. Dahl's book is partly a celebration of the extraordinary variety of the world's animal species and the characteristics of the three creatures, giraffe, pelican and monkey, are richly conveyed in the inven tive costume ...

... Snow White BEXHILL THE GENTLE Snow White story is, perhaps, more difficult than most to convert into a successful pantomime, and this production at Bexhill could best be described as patchy. The cast worked hard to bring it to life, helped by some colourful sets and the young dancers of the Janice Blake Dance Studio. But too often it lost momentum entirely. At times, it was even in danger of ...

... Christmas Cat and the Pudding Pirates BLACKWOOD IT'S LIFE on the ocean waves for the cast of Outlaw Theatre Company's version of Christmas Cat and the Pudding Pirates by Christopher Lillicrap and Jeanette Ranger at Blackwood Miners' Institute. The action takes place on the good ship Santa Claus, and tells the tale of Christmas, the ship's cat, and Cookie, the maker of the finest Christmas puds ...

... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs CANTERBURY WITH Snow White creeping up the charts in panto popularity-- 15 productions in the country this year-- David Lee's Marlowe Theatre presentation must be one of the most spectacular. Having to recover from the loss ot Spike Milligan, m his inimitable role of Court Jester, the lavish scenery, laser effects and a magnificent Wicked Queen carry the day. ...

... Pinocchio CAMBERLEY A VISUAL box of delights awaits the unsuspecting visitor to the Civic Hall, Camberley this year with a production of Pinocchio which outshines previous Christmas shows at the same Surrey Heath venue. The fairy tale characters, true to their storybook images, owe their authenticity to Vince Gardner's costumes as well as to die enthusiasm and creativity of the cast. Antonia ...

... Aladdin BURY ST EDMUNDS A FIRST half much too long (by at least twenty minutes), but lots of good clean fun, spec tacle and magic in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds. Many of the regulars are back from last year's show. Stevie Bee is a nicely manic Wishee Washee (I wish that less of his humour pandered to the kids' appalling taste in TV!) who has a deft touch with the young ...

... Jack and the Beanstalk DARTFORD AUDIENCE participation was very much the order of the day when I went to the Orchard, Dartford for Jack and the Beanstalk. Coach loads of youngsters from schools over a wide area augmented the considerable local contingent and 'Oh, no he didn't' was deafening in their contradicting the claims to the contrary from the stage. Well known as a recent television ...

... Jack and the Beanstalk CLEETHORPES A FEW years ago someone had the germ of an idea of turning the Memorial Hall in Cleethorpes into a venue for professional entertainment. Here we are some years later with another panto success and just as that germ of an idea has grown into a much bigger operation so the beans in this year's panto presented by Nelson Firth and Mark Andrew s have blossomed ...

... Dick Whittington And His Cat EASTBOURNE GOOD at everything he tackles, Peter Duncan has directed a funny, well-con- structed, seamless, colourful and beautifully dressed pantomime from Peter Denver's book. Playing Dick Whittington, with agile Emma Morgan as his wise and faithful cat, Duncan is a dashing hero, so much so that he will be missing from the show for eight days while he delivers a ...

... Aladdin HEREFORD CHILDREN of all ages cannot fail to enjoy this enchanting production of Aladdin at the New Hereford Theatre, enacted throughout twelve well-lit scenes by an excellent cast, portraying traditional pantomime at its very best. The show's director David Williams is superb as Widow Twankey, getting the nec essary laughs galore each time he comes on stage wearing outrageous costumes ...

... Cinderlla NEW BRIGHTON WIRRAL Leisure Services Dept continues the association with Roy Hastings Management for the annual pantomime at New Brighton's Floral Pavilion. Cinderella is directed by Steve Shappelle, he, in association with Paul Laidlaw, is credited with this traditional script. Shappelle takes over from the popular Roy Minting, who in recent years has done so much to build up the ...

... Cinderella WEYMOUTH AUSSIE soap stars Nicolle Dickson and Alex Papps make an easy transition from Home and Away to Cinderella in their pantomime appearance at the Pavilion Theatre, Weymouth. Yet the panto itself had to undergo three potential set-backs before opening at Weymouth following its pre-Christmas run at Carlisle. First the animal lobby made an abortive attempt to have the coach ...