Family panto fun

10:58am Tuesday 18th December 2007

WHEN the cast is clearly having as much fun as the audience and all the necessary ingredients are in place, there's nothing like a panto for family fun.

And Snow White, the 10th Courtyard panto, certainly delivers. The familiar tale of good versus evil in which the beautiful princess ultimately triumphs over her wicked stepmother, with a little help from the mother-and-son team of nurse Whitney On-Wye and the improbably tartan-clad Preston On-Wye, is given a very Herefordshire twist.

Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful and Dopey are replaced by Tupsley, Dinmore, Dilwyn, Holmer, Hinton and Wellington, led by Madley, with Herefordshire gags a running theme.

Lulu Alexandra was a perfectly cast Snow White, pretty as a picture and matched by an equally handsome Carl Ferguson as Prince Felix.

Director/dame Nick Collett once again had an absolute ball in his gorgeous frocks, revelling in the fun being had by an enthusiastic audience.

The great thing about The Courtyard's panto is its emphasis on good clean fun and its determination to ensure that everyone has a great time. There's no big soap star in Snow White, but nobody who sees this panto will miss them. The cast - from the children to the professional leads and dancers - are all fabulous, with a great vampish turn from Lyndsay Maples as Queen Thomapple.

This is a panto for all the family - traditional, innuendo-free, with sweets for the audience and a singalong interlude - though the youngest members of the audience might be a bit alarmed by the Mirror, an inventive depiction, but a little disturbing. Snow White runs until January 5. To book, call the box office on 0870 1122330.

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