This traditional and familiar panto, directed by Ann Mayor, is the usual mix of fun, songs and dancing which will appeal to people of all ages. The scenery and costumes were as lovely as ever, providing a perfect backdrop the show.

It has three amusing good fairies called Fairy Cake (Susan Sanderson), Fairy Liquid (Joanne Hughes) and Fairy Nuff (Katie Collins) all of whom gave great performances but I particularly liked Katie’s portrayal of Fairly Nuff – yeh but no but!

The dame Izzy Eckerslike (Adrian Casey) and his son Willy Eckerslike (Gail Metcalf) both added to the general fun of the performance and Nicola Casey who played the evil Witch Carabosse with her sidekick a dragon called Dylan played by Pete Coxhead also gave good performances.

The musicality of the whole show, under the direction of Mat Jones, was excellent. The band provided a tightly executed selection of favourites across the decades and the chorus gave a harmonious support to the whole show.

The excellent teams of dancers both Junior and senior teams from Harlequin Stage School were well choreographed by Paula Dymock and were given lots of opportunity to perform with the chorus.

The principal casting could have been stronger especially between the Principal Boy and Girl with the age difference stretching the imagination somewhat and unfortunately I feel the script and the direction let the show down as it did not have a strong storyline which made scenes feel disconnected and maybe even a little forced.

This panto runs at the Swan Theatre until Saturday 23rd January.