"The Cat's Meow" by Steven Peros.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Sex, drugs and the Charleston! I thought that may get your attention. I love it when I get to see a play that I haven't seen before, and this fits the bill perfectly.

Based on the true story of a mysterious Hollywood death, "The Cat's Meow" offers a fascinating cross section of Jazz Era characters who intersect for one notorious weekend on board William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924. The play was adapted for film in 2002, with a screenplay by the author, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard, and Edward Herrmann. The film I've not seen, by choice, because I wanted this out to be my first vision.

Weekend guests include Charlie Chaplin, who has been carrying on with movie star Marion Davies, a secret known to Davies' paramour, the married, and much older Hearst, and movie mogul Thomas Ince, who is hoping to revive his flagging fortunes by forming a partnership with Hearst. Playing with fire, Ince tries to convince Hearst that he can handle both Marion's movie career... and her private life as well.

Jealousy, infidelity and gossip is followed by good old fashioned Hollywood cover ups, bribery and oaths of silence after thirteen become twelve!

The storyline lends itself so well to celluloid, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who loves to lift the lid of the squeaky clean and lovable stars of the day, whether that is today or back in the 1920's. and discover who and what they are really like behind the image projected to their adoring fans. Lasting just two hours, with interval, there's no slacking in relation to the lead up of what happens, the characters, what is thought to have happened and the aftermath; and this fleetness of story telling had me hung on every word and action of these characters.

Micah Darmola plays William Randolph Hearst. I actually didn't recognise until about a quarter of an hour in thanks to the wig and his accent. Brilliant characterisation of the hard-nosed Hearst who believed that he could either frighten anyone into silence or buy their silence, for whatever reasons he required. I am sure that it's only the size of his cheque book that his younger, glamorous arm candy, Marion, was interested in when deciding between him and Chaplin. A nasty tongue on Hearst who often derided his guests, especially the guest of honour, and we get to see a dangerous jealous streak, brilliantly built up by Micah.

 

Mark Anderson portrayed Tom Ince, the birthday boy, and the reason for Hearst to throw his party aboard his vessel. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and had a big reputation in the movie industry, and his idea was to keep getting bigger, with a little help from Hearst. Like every actor in this classy ensemble piece of theatre, Mark played an absolute blinder with this role.

Will White plays George Thomas, Ince's Business Manager, who also acts as an escort to Margaret Livingston.

 

Holly Cooke portrayed Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress. Glamour is the order of the day and boy did Holly get to wear some glamorous costumes in this role. The "will she", "won't she" situation with Chaplin had you on tenterhooks throughout, feeding the notebooks of the gossip columnist on board and enraging a certain other person into the bargain.

 

Alison Hope is Elinor Glyn, the novelist and scriptwriter. Alison is one of so many highlights in this play as she acts as narrator with some gorgeously juicy lines - thanks to the author - delivered in a way that she showed exactly what she was doing, Elinor that is, and the effect that the lines would have on certain people, all delivered with a twinkle of the eye and a wry smile. I am a big fan of Alison's and this is on a par with her portrayal of  Florence Foster Jenkins in "Glorious" back in 2017, which I simply adored.

 

Jake Black plays Charlie Chaplin. I have learned so much about Chaplin from talking to Jake and watching him play "The Tramp", a term he also dedicates to one of the characters in this play, maybe for a different reason, methinks! Chaplin was not the lovable character he portrayed in his movies, in fact the complete opposite, and this play highlights what a B*****d he was behind the persona on screen. On his entrance most of the audience will see him from behind in silhouette, and you instantly know his character, something that you may have taken longer to surmise when he got to the stage due to something we all know Chaplin for. It takes a talented actor to evoke either good or bad feelings towards a character, and this shows Jake to be a marvellous character actor.

 

Rosie Wallace plays the gossip columnist Louella Parsons, or "Lolly" to her friends. Wonderfully portrayed, especially when you see some of the tactics that she brings into play to extract juicy information from some of the guests. Louella really wants to have her own gossip column in Hearst's paper, and she sees the perfect chance to get what she wants, completely without scruples. Looks like times have never changed with media folk!

 

Ksenia Tsymbal plays Margaret Livingstone, the silent film actress who wasn't as silent in her real life dramas. Margaret is having a secret affair with one of the characters on the boat which does not stay secret for long. 

Paul Spruce played Joseph Willicombe, Hearst's right hand man when it came to clearing up messes, or getting the message across to people who thought that they could cross Hearst. Paul certainly looked the part as this menacing character.

Bernard Whelan plays Dr Goodman, the screenwriter and physician. Always handy, you'd think, to have a Doctor on board a sailing vessel, especially where patient confidentiality is concerned!

Linda Hoyland doubles her roles as Mrs Goodman, wife of the good doctor - who by the way has a few great lines in the play, and Mrs Ince who we see in the second half of the play, and wife of Tom Ince.

Chloe Davie is Ceilia Moore and Chloe Martin is Didi Dawson who make for a lovely pairing, who also love a good bit of juicy gossip. along with delivering some juicy lines themselves.

Directed by Charlotte Hukin. This is a labour of love for Charlotte, she was telling me a few weeks ago, and it shows. The play, and the characters hold your attention every second that you're watching, making this short piece of theatre seem even shorter.

The set design will take your breath away, especially as at the start the majority of the set is hidden while Elinor delivers the opening lines, setting the story and scene so perfectly. I am not going to give any spoilers, although you'll see part of the set in the photographs accompanying the review. Think "Anything Goes" and you'll be in the right area. The Lace Market Theatre have had some gorgeous sets, designed by some immensely talented people, and this is right up there with many of my favourites. Guy Evans has designed the most spiffingly perfect set, and when fully revealed I can guarantee an intake of breath at its' beauty.

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• Lighting Design is by Amy Bermudez. There are several sections that the lighting is really important for directing your attention to what is being said and by whom. Great job.
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• Sound Design is by Fred Baker and Jude Skeet. The soundscape places you well and truly out to sea with the nautical sounds. plus there's those wonderful Charleston rhythms to get your toes tapping.
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• Stage Managed by Jae Marriott with assistance by Laurence Bembridge, Andrea Pykett and Rachel Barlow, who were also suitably costumed while moving items and props (Fayde Judd, Lesley Brown and Wendy Silver) to and from the set.

  

  
  
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• Wardrobe is thanks to Amanda Pearce and Max Bromley. Yet again another incredible set of costumery (is there such a collective name for costume), which immediately placed you in the era of style and glamour. The monochrome costumes were perfect to compliment the set design as well.

A mention also goes to Chris Sims for his role in this production. I won't say what role he undertook, as I don't want to give any spoilers to one particular scene!

This is what ensemble theatre is all about where story telling and character acting is so to the fore that it is in danger of toppling off the stage. 2026 is going to be an amazing year for local theatre if what I've seen locally in the last week or so is anything to go by. Congratulations to all involved in this production, it's a definite must see for anyone who loves great theatre or just peeling back the onion layers of celebrity to discover what lies beneath.

"The Cat's Meow" is the dog's dangly bits and is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 17 January.

Photography by Kathryn Edwards.

 "Cinderella" by NUH Pantomime Society.

Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

This has to be the best pantomime that I have seen this year! OK I may seem flippant with that remark, but this production is seriously good, especially when you think that everyone performing in this show work inside Nottingham's hospitals. They get together once a year to put on a show in order to raise funds to buy items for the hospitals that standard funding doesn't cover; items that are suggested by specific areas of the NHS which will improve patient experience whilst in the hospital, and they've been doing this for around 30 years. When you hear just how stretched the National Health Service is at this time, these people give up their time to write, produce and put on a show in order to help make patients' lives just that little easier.

Thois is a mix between traditional "Cinderella" and a fresh twist on some of the characters, like Fairy Knapweed, who has to make Cinders and The Prince fall in love before she gets her wings, almost like "It's A Wonderful Life" but with a wonderfully funny Fairy instead of a heavenly guardian. Anyway. you all know the Cinderella story, so I don't neeed to go into the storyline, do I?

It's a large cast, with an even larger "behind the scenes" crew, so let's get on with the praising!

If I refer you back to my first comment, the show is packed with such feel good vibes and energy and has several marvellous characters and performers who really drive the story, humour and audience participation with such gusto that you you can feed off of the energy and fun for a long time after the show has ended.

Cinderella is played by Megan Kearney and she adds a nice modern twist to the character. It's sometimes hard to register that these performers are not regular stage performers and by doing what they do, we also see the talents that they have outside their normal 9 to 5 jobs. That can be said of Megan's voice and we get to hear some lovely vocals from her. From the gorgeous "When I Need You" to the raunchy "Shut Up And Dance With Me", she takes you from one level of emotion to the opposite end with the story behind the song choices.

Prince Charming is played by Evie Alliott and again a really modern feel to this character, while still keeping to the traditional Prince feel and story. A real groover on stage and she has some great songs to groove to as well.

Angie Springhall plays Dandelion, one of the two evil Step Sisters. This is one half of a brilliant double act with Angie's facial expressions really creasing me up. Dandelion's snorting when laughing is another trait that you just can't resist finding funny and her childlike tantrums are another comedy point. 

Dandelion's sister is Burdock, played by Colin Mudd. I remember so well Colin from last year's production he is that memorable, and he is just as memorable in this role. Colin is one of those actors who are vital to any group for driving the show. Straight away he was addressing the audience to boo, ooh and aah and ramping up the audience participation. Colin is a natural comedian and he feeds off the love that he receives from an audience. Hr has described himself as a natural "show off" and that is sometimes what you need in theatreland, but he never goes over the top, well not for me anyway. He is a natural dame in the old style of Dan Leno, especially with his added sauciness and facial recognition of things that he has said, similar to how Sir Ian McKellern plays a dame. Great entertainment and one of several "show drivers" in this production.

Ross Levy is another important show driver who keeps those energy levels sky high in his role of Buttons. This version of Cinderella doesn't have Buttons fawning over Cinders with unrequited love, but instead shows a brother/sister liking for the other, which allows Buttons to be a funnier character. Buttons is all team Cinders where the bullying by Dandelion and Burdock are concerned, but you also see a bit of affection for the step sisters in parts. I think the last time that I saw Ross on stage was last year performing Shakespeare on the Theatre Royal stage, if I remember correctly, in a community staging of "Hamlet" and seeing him here just shows the flexibility of his acting skills.

Teresa McDonnell gets her fair share of boos as the nasty Baroness Hardup. Wonderfully evil as she stands up for her daughters, addressing the audience and putting down her Stepdaughter, Cinderella. I did however hear a wolf whistle though when she came on stage dolled up to the nines in her ballgown, and I will admit, she looked the bees knees! A nod to the wardrobe department there.

Elizabeth Eastham was Dandini, swapping his cloak (and moustache) to allow the Prince to mingle unnoticed among the commonfolk. Loved the fact that Dandini always came up with a cunning plan which was then picked up as a brilliant idea by the Prince, just seconds later, and Dandini's reaction to this.

Fairy Knapweed is not a character that I had seen before, so may have been a novel character written in by the pantomime's author. In order for this punky character to get her full wings, she is assigned the task to make Cinders and The Prince fall in love. Collette Wong gives a brilliantly energetic performance as this rebel looking fairy with attitude.

Claire Pavier, as Fairy Snapdragon, is the fairy who allots the task to Fairy Knapweed and is a great leveller to the fiery fairy's gung ho methods and a lovely leveller as your archetypal panto good fairy. The pair's images also reflect thier temperaments as well, and again, another nod to the wardrobe department for both costumes.

Baron Hardup is played by Martin Orrell. This character starts out under the Baroness's thumb, but a task that he has to perform near the end of the pantomime gives him kudos, especially in the eyes of the bossy Baroness.

There's a running joke throughout the panto regarding mice, and two especially as we are kept hanging on for the two main mice, Bubble and Squeak, played by Lucy Crocombe and Amy Flatman. The mice being Cinderella's friends love to dance, and Buttons keeps putting off their big dance section right until the end of the show almost, where they perform to "A Windmill In Old Amsterdam" - which I have been unable to get out of my head ever since the panto finished!

There's two other duos in the panto, the first being a pair of gardeners, Old Bert, played by Emily Giles, and Young Ernie, played by Victoria Wilkinson-Smith, and then Andie Gooding and Andrea West who play Quicksilver, the pantomime horse. I can imagine that the latter role may have taken a bit of time and rehearsals with the pair to look as natural in motion as they did as a horse; it's all to do with co-ordination I was once told, and this pair certainly had that.

The final main cast role is that of Herald, who was played by Helen Lester.

The chorus of Villagers, Lords and Ladies, Ghosts, Skeletons and Ghoulies are played by Emma Brown, Lucy Crocombe, Amy Flatman, Andie Gooding, Helen Lester, Richeldis Malkin, Sharon Martin, Emma Reid, Maria Rotsidi, Alison Towner, Andrea West and Sophie West. Some of the ghost outfits are the best that I have seen, yet another pat on the back for the wardrobe team.

Directed by Kat Crookes, Barbara Eastham and Hatty Hunt-Blow. This show is very fast moving with scene changes done with fine pace and covered by the band so that there was never a moment when there was not anything to focus on aurally or visually.

Produced by Steve Eastham.

Technical Support was by Jonthan Pykett.

Barbara Eastham wrote the script and I will admit that I don't remember hearing any of the jokes anywhere before, and they were funny as well. A fresh script that blended traditional panto with a new feel and that kept my attention all the way through just waiting for the next humorous line. Additional script material was by Martin Orrell and Elizabeth Eastham.

The choreography for this show was also very good and obviously played to the individual strengths, showing the hard work put in by Choreographers Kat Crookes, Elizabeth Eastham, Emma Reid and Alison Towner. Wonderful ensemble numbers like "It's Raining Men" and "Get the Party Started" completely filled the stage.

The live band sounded great under the musical direction of Rowena Wood (drums) consisted of Christine Cripps (oboe), Anita French (clarinet). Phil Hughes (bass), Michael Johnson (guitar), Sam Uveges (trumpet) and Catherine Williams (piano).

Vocally this troupe were on every number combining the actor's natural vocal abilities with the vocal coaching provided by Teresa McDonnell and Sam Uveges.

I now get to let you know who is responsible for the brilliant costumes for this production. Under the guidance of Wardrobe Mistress, Elizabeth Paling, were Wardrobe Team Suzy Thornton, Emily Giles and Grace Miller. These costumes were such a high point of the show.

Of course, there's a few people who work their butts off that you never see as an audience member, but without the Backstage Crew,  a show like this would not run as smoothly as it does. These unsung heroes are Barbara Eastham, Peter Knowles, Debbie Croves and John Crookes as well as Backstage manager Steve Eastham.

Keeping the flow of audience members happy are the Front of House team, again all volunteers, and they are Sarah Flatman, Alison Rigby, Dylan Steele and the NUH Panto Family. Again, unsung heroes in any drama group that should be acknowledged.

Sound and Light crew, I imagine as there's no mention in the programme, belong to Squire Performing Arts. Absolutely no issues with either.

Normally people associate pantomime with the Christmas period, and I suppose January/February is still, technically, winter, and I have a few more pantomimes to go, but NUH pantomime have set the bar high for quality for pantos for early 2026.

"Cinderella" by the NUH Pantomime Society is at Squire Performing Arts Centre from Tuesday 13 January until Saturday 17 January with a Saturday matinee but check the SPAC website for the start times of the various performances.

 "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen.

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre.

I've never really read much Jane Austen. Like most people I knew "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", but "Northanger Abbey", her first novel, is not one that I can recall, and you know I love expanding my theatrical education, and this education blends the Austen humour with a Gothic backdraft.

So for the uneducated, where Jane Austen is concerned, this is what the play is about...

"Northanger Abbey" is the coming-of-age story of a young woman named Catherine Morland. She has grown up in the countryside, the eldest daughter of a parson in a family of ten children, and is obsessed by Gothic novels of the time, something that influences her mindset later within the play.

She has been invited on a holiday to Bath by her neighbours, The Allens, where she encounters the Thorpes and the Tilneys. During balls, she befriends Isabella and fancies Henry. Soon, Isabella gets engaged to James, but starts flirting with Captain Frederick. 

Catherine visits Northanger Abbey, on the invite from Henry and expects a Gothic mansion. Instead, she is received in a lovely house. However, there are mysterious rooms she cannot enter and her imagination starts to run away with her.

Catherine's visit ends when a furious General Tilney rudely sends her home. It turns out that John Thorpe has lied about Catherine's family being dirt-poor. What could possibly happen now? Is this the end of a beautiful friendship? Unless you have read the book or seen the film, there's only one way to find out... go along to the Duchess Theatre and see what unfolds!!

The wonderful thing about the Duchess Theatre is that it's incredibly popular with many different theatre groups and booking in for a run of a play is something that needs doing there many months in advance. That also means that rehearsal time on the stage that you're going to perform on is very limited, and that is something that this production would have benefitted from, more rehearsal time on that stage, and that doesn't just mean for the actors but for the sound and lighting department to make sure that they get everything, if you'll pardon the pun, spot on.

Not knowing the story of "Northanger Abbey", and I didn't want to watch the film or look tto deep into the synopsis of the story, I wanted this production to tell me everything I needed to know about the plot and the characters, and that is where my first niggle was. Halfway back in the auditorium and I had trouble hearing some of the actors. When they turned away from the audience their sound was lost, sometimes when they faced the audience, I couldn't hear what was being said, so I became lost to the characters and part of the storyline. There were mics, five of them set up, three at the front of the stage and two above the stage, but projection was not strong enough from a handful of actors, while others, when projecting didn't need any electrical magnification.

With not having access to the theatre for rehearsals there was also, so it seemed to me, a lack of blocking for lighting purposes and several times the spotlight meant that the actors heads were in darkness while everything from the neck down was illuminated. I did find out that there had only been time for just one technical rehearsal, which will be frustrating for the lighting team, actors and Director. I know though that, with this being opening night, notes will have been made and points will be refreshed all round. I know that because I know the Director and most of the cast and know the work ethic they have when they strive for the standard of work that they always aim for. And I know for a fact that it's only due to the time available over the last couple of months, getting the cast together for rehearsals and the limited stage time available to them that niggly things like the lighting, the vocal projection, the repetition of a couple of the lines and maybe a few missed lines all crept in there. Monday was only day one though and Tuesday and Wednesday are other days to smash this play!

It's not all negativity though because there is a lot of extremely positive points to tell you about....

The costumes are wonderful. There's no credit in the programme but the gowns for the ladies are full of colour and style, and the men's suits were perfectly periodic and brought such class to the proceedings. A lot of work has obviously gone into their creation to look the part.

I loved Alice Goodall's choreography in the ballroom sections, again so of the period. The music was magical, possibly Mozart, all added to the Austen-esque feel of the era.

What I also liked was the narrative of the story and characters by breaking the fourth wall, all the while moving the story along.

The dramaturgy was another thing that I enjoyed, and let's be honest who does not love it when a play gets very dramatic, especially in the second half with General Tilney's speeches!

There were several sections where we are taken into the world of Catherine's Gothic obsessions when the stage was flooded in blood red lighting and masked characters invaded the stage, breaking forth from Catherine's imagination, enough to bring on nightmares! The masks and the set by the way was the work of Philippa Buchanan.

The cast are Samantha Hempsall (Catherine Morland), Darren Taylor (Henry Tilney),  Rachel Augustsson (Isabella Thorpe), Martin Weston (John Thorpe), Alice Goodall (Eleanor Tilney), James Taylor (James Morland), Rachel Bates (Mrs Allen/ Annette), Dan Bates (General Tilney) and Kourtney White (Mrs Thorpe/Mrs Morland). All to be applauded as this kind of play isn't performed very often at all and getting the right feel for the era as well as the physical attributes of the characters is also not an easy ask, or getting the language the way it should sound.

Directed by Jessica Morgan-McLean, this show is a big deal and with all the time restraints put in her way, I honestly think she did a really good job of getting this play seen. I also know, as I said earlier, that there will be some tweaking done overnight to tighten up the production. It's a cracking story and I for one am really pleased that I got to see this story performed on stage, and by Your Chance Productions.

Lighting and sound is by Dave Martin, again I know that the one combined tech and costume rehearsal would have frustrated him like anything getting the sound and light cues just right for opening night, but I did notice a tighter combined technical show in the second half.

I've never liked the title of "critic" because it gives rise to the term "criticise", something that I don't like to do, well maybe with professional/touring productions where the cast have months to get everything right and are paid to get it right. I prefer the title of "reviewer" where the job is to give an honest review of what is seen on stage, so please do not think that I am criticising any area of this production, because I know so many of the actors on local stages and I know the hard work and love that they pour into what they do on stage, and do for the love of theatre. I also have been told by so many local actors that they are very rarely satisfied with their performances, even when an outsider to the stage like myself sees a great performance, and reports on what he sees.

I know that Tuesday's and Wednesday's performances are going to going to be up there where they should be; I know because I know this group, and not something like a shortage of stage rehearsal time is going to stop any of them, on or off the stage, from giving you their best performances.

"Northanger Abbey" is at the Duchess Theatre only until Wednesday 7 January, so you'd better hurry up and get those tickets for this often overlooked Jane Austen classic.

 "Aladdin" by Flying High Expressive Arts CIC.

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

This year theatrically has been an incredible year from a reviewer's point of view. This will be my last show of 2025 to review and my 165^th review of the year, so I must thank everyone who has asked this lad in to review their shows.

This show has recently returned from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it won the award for the "Best Young Cast". Based on the original story from The Arabian Nights, this one-hour long show includes five original songs and has been written and directed by Carrie Bird.

The story is set against a wonderful backdrop of an Egyptian village scene, straight away setting you right in the heart of the story and at the market place where we meet Aladdin and his friends

Aladdin, the handsome street urchin and hero of the story is played by Finlay Foote. A really confident leading man and, like every other young person on that stage, a fine singer.

The Genie is played by Harrison Bird, and what an energetic young man he is; bringing a smile to your face every time he appears on stage.

Amelia James plays The Spirit of The Ring, and once more, a very energetic, as well as athletic performer Amelia is.

Nasira the Nurse is played by Lily Smith.

Lana, the Sultana's companion, is played by Macey Shepperson.

Princess Yasmin, a very modern Princess, is played by Poppy Ogburn.

Princess Samara, Yasmin's sister and a martial arts addict, is played by Ellie Pickering.

Yusef the Vizier, who is trying to marry off his son to Princess Yasmin, is played by Daniel Holdstock.

 Amir, Yusef's son is played by Ash Byrne.

Jack Bridgmount plays Bashir, the Magician, who tells the family that he is Aladdin's Uncle, provides a character filled performance. 

The Sultan Raheem is played by Danny Mitchell and The Sultana, his attitude filled wife, is played by Ella Flewitt. They say opposites attract which may explain why the Sultan and Sultana were attracted. The Sultan holds himself with regality throughout, and both parts acted fabulously by both.

Aladdin's Mother is played by Liv Ali

Mrs Rachid is played by Ophelia Johnson, and doubles up her roles as the Narrator and Market Owner.

Tim Burns, Willow Evans and Oscar Straw play Kareem, Farah and Jamal, Aladdin's friends.

One thing that struck me about this cast, which is an ensemble cast, even though Aladdin is the main character, is the joy on these young people's faces as they perform, and how easily they fall into character. The songs are all ensemble created with some of them giving solo lines, especially the song about the Princess being traced via France, Great Britain, Australia and Egypt - and there's some nice accents in there as well.

Directed by Carrie Bird, assisted by Sophie Hatton.           .

Costumes  and the backdrop are by Aaron Belcher. The costumes add to the whole feel and atmosphere of the show.

Sound Designer is Jack Quarton-Manuel, who also wrote the infuriatingly catchy songs that are performed by this marvellous cast.

Lighting Designer is Peter Hodgkinson.

It comes as no surprise that this cast won the "Best Young Cast" award this year in Edinburgh. I missed last year's Christmas Show that Flying High did, so there was no way that I was going to miss out on seeing this award winning show.

"Aladdin" is at Bonington Theatre until Tuesday 23 December, 2pm and 5pm.

 "The Littlest Yak" by LasTheatre.

Lakeside, Djanogly Theatre.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Children's Theatre, and especially around this time of year. I am in a very fortunate position in that I can go along and see a show like this appreciate the wonderful story-telling, the puppetry, the original music and the artistry that goes into Children's theatre, and go along without having a child to watch - mine are all now grown up - and relax and also appreciate the work that goes into making something technical and, not as some people may think with it being theatre for children, being easy, but being like the proverbial iceberg. What you see on top is only a fraction of what goes into making the whole thing.

The story is based on the book by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley about a little Yak called Gertie, not just little, but the littlest, who doesn't want to be the littlest Yak, she wants to be a BIGGEST Yak. Nothing wrong with being ambitious!

Gertie eats as much as she can to try and make herself grow, but still feels just a little bit helpless. Then something happens that puts Gertie right at the centre of attention, making her feel very happy that she is not as big as the other Yaks.

With children's theatre, there's always a message interwoven into the fabric of the storyline that permeates a youngster's mind, Here the message is to celebrate YOU for who you are, and not for what you might be or could be (for now at least), and also not to be in a rush to grow up.

You can see the enjoyment that the youngsters get out of theatre aimed especially for their age group. There are parts where the audience are invited to dance, which can be done sitting down but there's never any pressure of audience participation, and I must also mention that there are relaxed performances of "The Littlest Yak" on Sunday 28 December as well as Saturday 3 January.

Let me introduce you to the characters in this piece of theatre...

There's Gertie, The Littlest Yak, who is very excitable and great fun to watch.

Gertie's Mum is called Fluffy Sue.

One of Gertie's friends is a bird called Barbara.

There's also a full herd of yaks, eight more in fact! This herd of yaks are handled by three humans called Louise, Darcey and Emily, who also narrate the story. Alexandra may also make an appearance in one of the other roles, or maybe several roles.

The puppets are absolutely lovely to look at, and you just fall in love with the story, the characters, the music, just everything about this piece of theatre is so lovely. The story telling reminded me a bit of the children's tv shows that I used to watch when a child. the sort where there is a story behind what you were watching; educational as well as entertaining, something I think is missing from so many tv shows aimed at the younger audiences nowadays.

The music written especially for the show is by Joseph Hardy and is as catchy as measles, but a great deal more pleasant. The opening number "The Big Yak Pack" is still running around my head at the moment as is another song called "What If"

This show is ideal for young audience goers as it is presented in such a way as to be easy to understand the story plus it's only 45 minutes long. the youngsters were only too willing to participate when required and by the looks on the faces of the kids as they were leaving, they had enjoyed the show as much as I had. the families went out into the cold Sunday evening with their eyes full of excitement, chattering away about Gertie and her friends.

Directed and written by Barra Collins.

"The Littlest Yak" is at Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside, Nottingham until Sunday 4 January 2026, so don't be sheepish, stop yakking and get some tickets before they're all gone. Now that would be baaaaad!

 "Sleeping Beauty" by Talegate Theatre.

Mountsorrel Memorial Centre (MMC).

It seems to be one of the most popular pantomimes to be performed this year, but every production tells the story in quite a different way. This production has that lovely modern feel about it while keeping the elements of the traditional storyline.

I've only been to the MMC once before, last June, and the amount of shows now being performed at this wonderful little complex has grown, especially if you look at the amount of flyers advertising upcoming shows at the venue on the wall inside. And quite rightly so that it's becoming a named place to perform at because it's a beautiful smaller scale venue.

I've never heard of Talegate Theatre before but if this show is a window to their talents, then this company is one to watch for going forward.

The Dame in this production is called Queenie and is played by Danny Mills, who is also the Company Manager. Every Dame that I've seen over this year's festive period have been very different, and rightly so, which is why they are all memorable. Danny's experience in the field of Damedom is very evident. The confidence that he brings to this character is wonderful, the voice is great and his management of the audience with participation is perfect, never allowing them to get off with just a half-cocked call and response session. Panto performance is different at each one, depending on the audience as well as being caught in the set curtains, which gave us chance to see Danny's ad-libbing skills, and always in character. I must also say that I loved "The Traitors" scene with Queenie as Claudia Winkleman.

Princess Aurora - the beauty that falls to sleep - is played by Grace Gauld and makes her professional debut in this role. There's an accent there and I wasn't sure if that was for the character or whether Grace herself has an accent - I'll probably never know. Very believable pairing with Aurora and the Prince, and they look good together, as well as sounding good together.

Prince Valentine is played by Ashton Peat, who is also making his professional debut in this production. Here you have a handsome lad who looks the part of the Prince, has a very soulful voice, reminding me ever so slightly of early Terence Trent D'Arby. Solo singing is very easy on the ear - that is a compliment by the way - and when he duets with Grace on "A Million Dreams" from "The Greatest Showman" they both make you sit up and appreciate the sound that make as one of the best duets I've heard in panto land 2025. Not only can Ashton play the strong leading man with a lovely comedy feel, he also camps it up in the section where the gargoyle is "behind you" and picks off the group one by one. 

Molevola, the evil fairy, is played by Bethany Grace Wright. It's no secret that I really enjoy the eviller characters in pantos because, a lot of the time, they have real substance to the role, and here is yet another evil fairy role that I adore. Molevola comes across as a quite matter of fact nasty, probably because of the confidence she has of getting what she wants. Reading the bio in the programme, several things become confirmed in my head from what I'd seen on stage - I don't read the programmes until after the show. Bethany has been very involved in immersive and children's theatre, and the way that she involved the younger audience in the story shows that. It says that she is an accomplished singer and dancer, and that too is bore out with what I saw on stage. Bethany has a gorgeous voice makes her Talegate debut as Molevola.

Completing the cast is Ellie Conroy as Fairy Fabulous, and quite aptly named as Ellie is fabulous at this. The good Fairy in any panto always gets to rhyme her part, and that's what separates them from most of the other characters in panto, and sets them apart and more noticeable, well, in my eyes anyway. Brilliant singer who also gets to perform in a couple of other guises, but no one could mistake that marvellous hair. 

Many highlights for me in this two hour fun show, but the scene where the main characters are being picked off by the Gargoyle, and the utter campness of it just ensured that the smile on my face remained there throughout.

There are three teams of junior ensembles from Bright Lights Theatre School, Team Queenie, Team Valentine and Team Aurora. On Saturday night Team Valentine were on show. They were Rio Hatcher, Ell-J Thurman, Amelie Vickers, Ruari Fenton, Elizabeth Brauer, Erin Millward, Thea Reeves and Florence Burt.

I know the quality of performer from Bright Lights Theatre School, having seen quite a few shows that they have put on in the past. This team are like little pocket rockets, every single one of them. There were two young lads in this team and they were amazing in their style and energy. The whole team also looked as if they were loving every second of stage time. Knowing just how good Bright Lights are, I also know that the other two teams will be of the same high quality.

The songs in this production I've not heard in any pantomime this year. "Ghostbusters", "The Land Of Make Believe", "A Million Dreams" and a brilliant medley performed by Queenie with everything from "YMCA", "Teletubbies", "Hey Baby" and "Bob The Builder" among them made sure that the younger audience members were all kept in the loop musically and gave them a chance to air their lungs.

I would have loved to have told you all about the Production team but they have been left out of the programme, so I don't know who directed, choreographed or musically directed this marvellous show, but whoever you are, consider all those boxes ticked.

Sound is by Ethan Lissaman, and I must commend this area of excellence because in the first act I felt that, while the backing music was beautifully clear, the volume on the actors' mics needed increasing slightly to blend in with the backing. Act Two came about and I noticed an increase in the mics, and the mix between backing track and the vocals were spot on. All other sound used in the show was spot on.

Lighting for this show was spectacular and is thanks to Ellis Gilliam as Assistant Designer with Talegate, and operated by Kevin Cutts. 

Technical Manager is Kim Tuplin.

Stage manager is Sami Hindmarsh.

Thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight, so if you're in the Mountsorrel area, do not miss out on going to support this venue, Talegate and Bright Lights. Great value for the ticket price, which is lower than a lot of local theatre tickets for this time of year.

"Sleeping Beauty" is being performed at MMC until Tuesday 23 December with a Relaxed Performance on Monday 15 December.