... Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Newark Robin Hood can be a gutsy, swash buckling tale and always goes down well in Nottinghamshire. But in a long and over-padded show at the Palace, the storyline gets very frag mented and there is never any real sense that the Babes are in danger. Fine talent like that of Lisa Jane Williams, a tall and truly impressive Robin Hood is squandered with too ...

... Aladdin Bournemouth Lavishly-staged, this presentation from E&B Productions at the Pavilion offers a wealth of fun, spectacle, music and dance. Jeremy Beadle's Wishee Washee may be short on characteri sation but he proceeds to wow the crowd with all manner of buffoonery and audience participation antics. Gareth Hunt earns ear-splitting boos as Abanazar, and temporarily relaxes into a classic ...

... Jack and the Beanstalk Potters Bar Chris Cavanagh has returned to the Wyllyotts Centre to write, direct and choreograph another inventive pantomime for which this venue has acquired a reputation. Though there is not much new that one can bring to the story, it is the incidentals that count here bright design, lively and original dance routines, the inclusion of such apt but less-used songs as ...

... Peter Pan Lincoln Peter Pan is flying higher than ever at Lincoln this festive season, not just because of the high standard of Chris Moreno's production but because the sternest critics of all the kids raise the roof in their delight. Stars in Their Eyes winner Katrina Davey's talent as Peter shows that she is destined for greater things, while experienced professionals David Griffin as ...

... Cinderella Mansfield I take my hat off to the Palace Theatre for doing its research, know ing its audience and giving it a thor oughly good time. Schoolchildren munching their way through goody bags in the shape of Cinderella's coach loved seeing their head teacher singled out for attention by the Ugly Sisters, even to the flaunt ing of his Christian name alongside their smalls on the washing ...

... Dick Whittington Redditch Devised and directed by David Vickers and Richard Chandler, this year's production at the Palace is stocked with all the usual panto paraphernalia. Jeremy Turner-Welch (Emmerdale heart-throb Tom Banbridge) stars as Dick with easy charm and an aura of calmness about him. Brian Croucher (Ted Hills from EastEnders) plays Alder man Rtzwarren with real panache his vast ...

... Aladdin South port Produced by Duggie Chapman and directed by Bill Maynard, the South-port Theatre's Aladdin is a winner all the way. With a cast full of TV personalities from Heartbeat to Coronation Street via Granada Tonight, this is a modem-day pantomime which still manages to retain all the traditional touches. David Lonsdale (Heartbeat's David) is excellent as the hapless Wishee Washee ...

... Dick Whittington Radlett The Brighton-based Upstage Prod uction Company has made the Radlett Centre's cosy creative space its home for the last few Christmases, having upped the regional pantomime stakes for others to match with last year's excellent Sleeping Beauty. Even if this year's Dick Whittington never quite reproduces that production's 'joie de festive vivre', this is still thoroughly ...

... Dracula Barons Court Theatre Dark, oppressive, the air laden with emotions of love, lust and repressed Victorian sexual desire. Not the kind of atmosphere usually associ ated with a Christmas show. Fullface and Profile's production of Bram Stoker's Dracula is however overflowing with these emotions. Excitement, suspense and a good measure of blood and guts literally ooze and overflow from the ...

... The Selfish Giant Newcastle-upon-Tyne Live Theatre is master of the art of theatre for the under sixes. Always cleverly produced, always something new and innovative on the cards and invariably the seasonal highlight. The programme at the Gulbenk- ian Studio begins with Spring awak ening and with her helpers preparing to plant the seeds. This action takes place away from the main set, before ...

... Cinderella Edmonton Cheap and cheerful, Millfield Theatre's seasonal offering holds its own among a raft of versions of this tale by making up in chutzpah what it lacks in budget. It also boasts a top-drawer turn from one of the country's rising entertainers. So good, in fact, is ventriloquist Paul Zerdin as Buttons, that his spots, incorporated semi- smoothly into the plot, not only pro vide ...

... Wizard of Oz Tunbridge Wells The stunningly attractive church conversion from Victorian gothic arches to primary colours which forms Trinity Theatre and Arts Centre, makes an ideal setting for this fresh, fast and fluent yellow brick road of a show. Based squarely on the familiar MGM film, this Wizard, directed by Dede McGarrity, reminds us just how good those old lyrics are. I'm afraid ...