"Peter Pan - The Pantomime" by Alex Jackson.

Burton Joyce Players.

Burton Joyce Village Hall.

Peter Pan, Nanna, Wendy, John, and Michael Darling take flight in a magical world full of pirates, fairies, and The Lost Boys; the most terrifying, tyrannous, traitors trampling the turbulent territory. Peter faces off against the sneaky Captain Hook who is batting away the inimitable panto dame Nanny McSmee.

This family-friendly show bursts out with catchy tunes, silly jokes, and plenty of chances for the audience to join in the fun. Whether you’re cheering for the lost boys or booing the pirates, there’s something here for everyone.

This is possibly the largest cast I've seen for Burton Joyce Players, and there are plenty of parts to play so let's take a look at who's who in this magical Neverland story....

Peter Pan, the boy that never grew up, is played by Isla Hilton with a lovely amount of theatricality. From the moment that Peter bursts through the open window of the Darling children's bedroom, to the final bows, Isla gives the role everything she has with perfect pomp and precision.

Tinker Bell, Peter’s best friend, the good fairy is played by Lily Musson, who gets to show off a fine pair of lungs as she duets on a couple of numbers, including "You're My Best Friend", the Queen classic, showing that both Lily and Isla have royally good voices.

Wendy Darling is played by Isabelle Williams, always keeping that mature "big sister" air as she looks after her siblings, the Lost Boys and of course, Peter Pan.

John Darling Wendy’s younger brother, is played by Henry Chaloner. I am so pleased to see that the costume includes the top hat, stick and big glasses, as I have seen several versions of Peter Pan where this isn't the case, and this, for me, defines John's character.

Michael Darling Wendy and John’s younger brother, is played by Charlie Cauldwell. Michael always looks to be having the best time, being the youngest of the Darling family, but I get the feeling that Charlie is having such a good time playing him by the big grin on his face at the final bows.

Nanna Darling Wendy, John and Michael’s pet dog is played marvellously by William Cauldwell. the scene where Nanna tells Peter where the children are is so much like those comedy sketches where the dog relates what has happened to the missing people in a conversational style, that it did not fail to make me smile.

Nanny McSmee The Darlings’ nanny and in this pantomime Smee Jnr’s mother is another wonderful Dame of the pantomime. Played by Greg Nicholas, there's just the right amount of smuttiness for the adults and lots of childish carrying on for the kids, although I got the feeling that some of the kids in also got the slightly naughtier innuendos as well! Great costumes and make up for Nanny.

Smee Jnr. Mrs Smee’s son is one of Captain James Hook's crew and played by Steve Armstrong. Steve carries the comedy along well and drives a lot of the scenes with great pace.

Mr Darling/Captain Hook, the evil captain of the Jolly Roger is played by one of my favourite comedy baddies, Christopher Mercer. Whatever character Chris plays he really gets under that character's skin and morphs into the character and he does that again as Captain Hook. From his first black booted step onto the Burton Joyce Village Hall stage he commanded the stage as well as the audience to give him their best booing, and they did not disappoint. It's a good job that Chris has one of those voices that booms through projection as we could hear every word over the booing sea of audience members, and I noticed that it was a collaborative effort of children as well as adults providing the boos, showing that everyone got in on the act.

Gentleman Starkey Pirate is played by Bertie Black, not that you'd notice him with the heavy beard, eye patch and pirate's hat pulled over his face. Great physicality in the role as he slowly made his way on and off stage, showing the aged pirate years in his gait as well as his loss of hearing, which resulted in some comical moments. One thing there is no mistaking is his voice though and in that sone where the whole audience join in and then are separated to see who sings it the loudest, you can instantly tell that distinctive voice.

Snarky Pirate is played by Molly Fitches, Snarly Pirate is played by Hannah Smith in another lovely double act. The other pirates were played by Anthony Owen, James Whitby and Patrick McDonald.

Brown Owl, the leader of the First Neverland Brownies is played by Avril McCormack, showing a brusque authoritarian side of the leader.

The ensemble of Brownies are played by Olivia Pearce, Dixie Kirk, Inez Wood, Tahmina Hollins, Molly Williams, Florence Pietrantonio and Jasmine Pietrantonio.

The Mermaid, who is in charge of Mermaid Lagoon is played by Sheila Millington, and completely unrecognisable. A lovely fun, tongue in cheek rendition of "It's Raining Men" featured two topless and muscle bound hunks, well sort of!

Tiger Lily, who is captured by Captain Hook and his crew is played by Inez Wood.

Peter Pan’s Shadow is played by Molly Williams in a very clever scene showing the shadow darting about all over the place and when caught by Nanna, they try to attach the shadow to Peter, as in the original story, but the shadow only appears to be attached to Peter with a trick of the light!

Crocodile is played by Olivia Pearce in a lovely fun way, and a brilliant crocodile costume as well.

Peter Pan's Lost Boys are played by Jessie Murdock, Austin Kirk, Sarika Hare, Charlotte Morris and Robyn Stephen.

As you can see a large cast.

Directed by Kathy Matthews who has put together a lovely and fun cast to work their magic on these roles. They kept the pace up and the comedy and songs rolling on throughout the show.

Musical Director is Christopher Mercer who has chosen some toe tapping and APT tunes for the pantomime, making sure that the ends of both acts were closed with big numbers. There's a nice mix of musical theatre show tunes, pop bangers and singalongs to keep your ears happy.

The costumes by Jill Toogood and Kathy Matthews were excellent, especially Hook's and Nanny McSmee's, but every one of them really stood out.

Lynn Carr was the Set Designer, as well as the Stage Manager, keeping everything rolling along.

The Stage Crew consisted of Molly Fitches, Mark Hilton, David Matthews, Patrick McDonough, Bob Mercer, Trevor Moseley, Greg Nicholas and Steve Wright. And when there are so many cast members, this job is not always as smooth sailing as it was on Wednesday night.

Sound and Lighting Technician is Steve Armstrong with the light operation by David Matthews and sound operation by Deborah Craddock.

There's also a lovely touch with video showing Peter and the Darling children and Nanna flying over some recognisable landmarks at night, created by Dan Byrne.

The Graphic Designer is Dan Miller (89 Design).

Helen Sharp co-ordinated the fight scenes.

Another swashbuckling and fun production by Burton Joyce Players which is always enthusiastically supported by the surrounding areas, in fact there are very few tickets left for the rest of the week, so you'd better hurry up if you want to try and get a ticket for this one.

Oh, and I must not forget to mention the wonderfully comfy new seats that Burton Joyce Players have for their audiences to sit on; another reason to get yourself tickets!

"Peter Pan The Pantomime" is at Burton Joyce Village Hall until Saturday 31 January.

 "Christmas Carol Goes Wrong" by Mischief.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Charles Dickens would be proud of this production as it was performed word for word in the way that Dickens had written it. And in no way did I see a giant Tiny Tim eat the main character in one swallow!

Mischief, the multi award-winning company behind "The Play That Goes Wrong", "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" and "The Comedy About a Bank Robbery" return to Nottingham with their latest hilarious production about the Charles Dickens classic Christmas story, "A Christmas Carol".

The Cornley crew battle miscommunication, delays to their set, actors missing in action and a growing feud over who will play the lead part, Ebeneezer Scrooge. Will Cornley finally change their ways, or will their misfortunes wreak happy havoc yet again.

The play starts with Chris, the Director, auditioning the usual suspects, along with Annie to find who'll be playing the thirty three roles needed for "A Christmas Carol", and of course which actor will play Ebeneezer Scrooge. Dennis, the one thar everyone feels sorry for and has to have prompts to remember his lines, straight away received a massive show of support when he entered the room and Robert, with the best booming voice since Brian Blessed, tried several times under several guises to snatch the main role, not only at auditions, but throughout the play.

All the character from Cornley had their moments to steal scenes in various ways, making not only Cornley a brilliant ensemble group, but also the actors playing the Cornley crew, playing the Dickensian characters. 

Every move, every line of this production is split second timed to create just the desired comedy effect. From lines Dickens wrote being said wrong to physical humour, it's always an additional level of unnaturalness to an actor to make the "wrong" things said and done, to appear natural to their particular character. Take for instance Les Dawson when he used to play the piano just a few notes out all the way through a tune; it's so much harder to perform things incorrectly than it is to perform them as they are supposed to look and sound like, because it's unnatural to them. Mischief make the unnatural seem natural, as well as extremely funny and entertaining throughout.

There are so many "mishaps" that I couldn't possibly even start to list what goes wrong, which is why it's best to see this show for yourself. I would not be able to even mention highlights as I wouldn't know where to stop. Look out though for the finished set design, Tiny Tim's appearance as part of the play within a play, the Ghost of Christmas "Present" - literally - the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Future), which gives Eddie from Iron Maiden a run for his money and a mystery performer who recognises that it's Christmas Day!!

Mischief get better with every new show they bring to the stage, and while I have given little hints as to what you can expect, nothing I can say, without giving too much away, will reveal just how talented and fun this group really are.

As I mentioned earlier, Mischief are truly a talented ensemble, so I don't need to tell you wonderful things individually about each one of them, so here's who, playing who, playing who.

Matt Cavendish (Max Bennett who played many....many, many roles including Young Ebeneezer)

Daniel Fraser (Chris Bean - Ebeneezer Scrooge)

Sasha Frost (Sandra Wilkinson who played the part of Ebeneezer's childhood love, Belle, Mrs Cratchit and the Charity Collector). 

Chris Leask (Trevor Watson who played the part of The Ghost Of Christmas Future, with a Scottish accent but silently) 

Henry Lewis (Robert Grove who played the role of The Ghost Of Christmas Present and The Clerk)

Jonathan Sayer (Dennis Tyde who played Bob Cratchit and the School Teacher)

Dumile Sibanda (Annie Twilloli who played The Ghost Of Christmas Past). This role in some shows is played by Nancy Zamit.

Greg Tannahill (Jonathan Harris who played Jacob Marley and Fezziwig).

Mr Garibaldi played the role of "Tiny" Tim.

The  merry, mischievous understudies will be Alex Bird, Will Bishop, Siobhan Cha Cha, Colm Gleeson, and Ashley Tucker.

The show is written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields. I hope that my words above is enough to demonstrate what a completely off the wall piece of theatre this show is. It's so cleverly written and so laugh out loud funny that it has to be experienced on stage instead of read about in reviews.

Directed by Matt DiCarlo. What fun this man must have had when thinking about directing this show and the cast.

The brilliant Set Designer is Libby Todd. Again the set in all of its' many guises has to be seen to be appreciated.

Costume Designer is Roberto Surace and when you see just how wacky this show is, you'll appreciate the work that went in to the quality of these costumes.

Sound Design is by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite and was a lesson in timed sound cues.

Lighting Designer is David Howe and is quite spectacular to be honest. I didn't think that I'd be paying that much attention to the lighting design but it was something that warranted a special mention.

Something else that really deserves a special mention is the brilliant playbill/programme. Not only is it packed with information about the actual actors, but it has bios of the actors that the actors are playing as well as loads of fun snippets of information about the play, Mischief, Dickens (a bio written by Max Bennett) and even some games for younger audience members to complete, and alternative use for the programme.....

"Christmas Carol Goes Wrong" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 31 January, so don't be a Scrooge, get your tickets now!

 "The Wizard Of Oz" by Tom Whalley.

Ravenshead Theatre Group

Ravenshead Village Hall.

Who has not seen the iconic 1939 film starring Judy Garland? I never tire of watching this magical story, whether it be on stage or on TV. And here Ravenshead present the pantomime version of the story, written by Tom Whalley, who also wrote last year's "Peter Pan" for the group.

Dorothy Gale lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and her little dog, Toto. It tells the story of how a tornado sweeps her, her home and Toto to a magical land called Oz, how she manages to eradicate the Munchkins from the Wicked Witch of The East by flattening her when the house lands on her.

On the way to meeting the Wizard, so she can get back home to Kansas she meets, and helps The Tinman to get a heart, Scarecrow to get a brain and The Cowardly Lion to get some courage and the quartet have a few scary adventures on their way.

I absolutely love a real cheesy production and this show contains more cheese than any deli cheese counter. The jokes may be a selection of mainly older, well worn gags but they still bring a smile to this cheese lover's face. the newer jokes, including the sprinkling of topical and political ones also bring a smile to mine, and by the sounds of the groans from the packed audience, to their faces as well. You could say that the script was brie-lliant, especially some of the slightly risqué jokes for the more mature audience member.

Dorothy is played by Philippa Adamson and I will commend her accent which sounded such a lot like Judy Garland's in the original film. No stranger to pantomime, Philippa embraces the character and the comedy side of Dorothy.

Ann-Marie Butler is Aunt ‘Em/Glinda. In complete contrast to Dorothy's Kansas accent, Glinda was given a broad Derbyshire accent, and I loved that the audience also loved that local touch as much as I because I could hear them giggling and repeating words like "yersen" for "yourself". Wouldn't have thought that the author would have put that in, so the Directors deserve a pat on the back for localising some of the characters.

Uncle Henry/The Wizard of Oz is played by Duncan Dearman. Duncan shows that he has many strings to his theatrical bow because I last saw him playing Utterson in October's production of "Jekyll & Hyde", these roles are pure comedy, especially Uncle Henry in the singalong part of the show, but his Wizard was also very comical, and I loved the costume for the Wizard himself.

Hickory/The Scarecrow is played by Mandy Buckley, who also choreographed the show. Mandy has played one of my all time favourite theatre characters in Madam Acarti in "Blithe Spirit", and playing the Scarecrow plays up to Mandy's comedy stylings, and she gets her fair share of the jokes, especially the slightly ruder ones - I love the Virgin Megastore joke which I think got one of the biggest laughs from Friday night's audience.

Dickory/The Tin Man is played by Rob Hurst, who I know had been suffering with a sore throat, but that didn't stop him delivering his usual brilliant performance; we even got to hear him singing, which is a real rarity.

Doc/The Cowardly Lion is played by John Birch. Another great costume and make up, and he also got the lion's share of the cheesy jokes, especially where big cats were concerned. He definitely left the audience feline good on Friday night.

Helen Brailsford is Ms Karen Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West. Both characters are wonderfully wicked but it's the ecstatically evil Witch who really got the audience going, extracting "boos" from them the moment that she stepped on stage. One lovely thing about the script for this pantomime is how equally the funny lines have been allocated to the characters and the Wicked Witch of the West gets some lovely laughs also.

Adam Hague plays Winkie the Monkey, the Wicked Witch's sidekick. Adam also gets a brilliant costume to wear, and some comic lines that brought reactions from the younger members of the audience. A lovely playful performance from an actor who has a great straight acting playing face, even when delivering a rib tickler of a joke.

The ensemble consist of members of the Ravenshead Youth Theatre Group who are John Beadsmoore, Destiny Dangerfield, Martha Dangerfield, Evie Dearman, Emily Evans, Daisy King, Ethan Lee, Abbey Morgan, Polly Napthine, Caitlin O'Connell, Freya O'Connell, Scarlet Sarkar, Mia Thompson and Emilia Thorley, all of which did a brilliant job.

Directed by Eddie Gray and Daniel Andrews, who also pops up on stage in some other form, as well as both designing the set, are also credited for the costumes with Lin Baggarley credited as Costume Projects, all of which looked absolutely amazing. The casting and pace of the show is perfection with the end of act one and the finale coming round so quickly I had to check my watch. A sign that shows just how invested, and how much I was enjoying this show. The Set Projects are created by Ken Cumberpatch.

Smoothly stage managed by Sue Bishton and her stage crew, Helen Berry and Hazel O'Connell.

The man who had the easiest job of the evening was James Disney in his role as the prompt. Now, I say this but being the prompt he has to keep a strict eye on the script just in case he is needed, so easy may not be the correct choice of adjective. His role as prompt was not needed tonight.

Lighting is by Iain Walton. A simple but effective design delivered perfectly.

Sound is by Andy Cook who did a cracking job with the music as well as all of the sound cues needed in the show.

I have mentioned the make up for the characters being really good, and this was all done by the cast themselves.

Now, I always keep my promises, and I did say that the Front Of House team would get a special mention. The Ravenshead Theatre Group members, family and friends were really friendly and so helpful with selling programmes, distributing and selling tickets and making sure everyone got to their allotted seats. 

A really funny pantomime take on a classic story delivered by a cast of brilliant actors who pack so much into the two hours, including interval. Ideal for all the family.

"The Wizard Of Oz" is at Ravenshead Village Hall until Sunday 25^th for their matinee performance. There's also a matinee at 2pm on the Saturday.

 "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" by Christchurch Theatre Company.

Loughborough Town Hall.

The story of inventor Caractacus Potts, his two children, Jeremy and Jemima and his father, Mr Potts senior. Caractacus saves an old racing car from being sold to the scrap man and works his magic and creates a car that can float and fly. Meanwhile news has spread to the Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria and they send their two hapless spies to retrieve the car for the Baron.

The spies Goran and Boris mistake Potts senior for the inventor and sky lift him over to the Baron, followed by Caractacus, the children and Truly Scrumptious, to Vulgaria, a place where children are banned and caught by the evil child catcher. With the help of the Toy Maker a happy ending for all is promised with just a little team work, which obviously makes this dream work.

Caractacus Potts is played by Ben Burgess. Ben brings out the warmth of the character, and the loving and protective father, the devoted son as well as the down to earth inventor; all the things that Truly found endearing to her, in the exact way that the film did when portrayed by Dick Van Dyke. At the start, I did think that Ben may have been just a bit too young to portray Caractacus, after all he doesn't look too much older than the Potts kids, but his mature acting and musical theatre voice ensured that he Caract the role with energy and enthusiasm, and without Van Dyke's cockney brogue.

Truly Scrumptious is played by Anja Zeman. Apart from Anja being truly scrumptious to look, her voice is as clear as crystal and her acting skills bring both a softness as well as a natural mirror to the pairing of Caractacus and Truly. I have always loved the scene in the palace where Truly and Caractacus are disguised as the Baron's birthday dolls and this scene was beautifully choreographed and played out on stage. Love the POSH accent, which of course went well with Truly's background and heritage.

Mr Potts Senior is played by Duncan Gadsby who completely captured the eccentricity of the character. It's so nice to see Duncan back on stage itself with this brilliantly comical role instead of being part of the set and the scenery.

The young Potts, Jeremy and Jemima (Henry, Lily, Amelie and George), played on Thursday night by Team Truly's pair, George Consterdine and Lily Cain. This pair, as I am sure Amelie Vickers and Henry Langley are, not stage shy and showed brilliant character acting, chemistry and confidence, alongside some pretty impressive vocals.

Lord Scrumptious, who we only saw in a couple of scenes, is played by Ashley Bright, but the scene where Caractacus is promoting his Toot Sweets to Truly's father is vital and worthy of mentioning.

The Toy Maker, played in the original film by Benny Hill, is played by Al Jordan, who delivers playfulness as well as an air of mystery in this role.

The two foreign spies, Boris and Goran are played excellently by Jarrod Makin and Isaac Banda. As with the Baron and Baroness, this is another wonderful pair of comic characters from the pen of Ian Fleming, and Jarrod and Isaac bring forth every ounce of comic fun, and I love their accents, the fun costumes and I noticed that some of their lines were quite topical as well. I enjoyed how Nick Sutcliffe, the Director, had them popping up from all over the place. keeping the audience on their toes.

Baron Bomburst is played by Jonathan Penton with Baroness Bomburst  played by Gemma Farnell. As in the film the characters are comedy gold, as are all the pairings in this musical and Jonathan and Gemma add that extra shine to the gold on stage. There are also some topical lines from the Baron regarding invading lands for no reason - mmm I wonder who that could be having a gentle dig at? And also a mention of Bernard Matthews, the only time you'll hear me mention turkey in the same sentence as Jonathan and Gemma!

The evil Child Catcher is played by Hannah Osgood and like any panto style baddie, her appearance completely changed the whole atmosphere from the audience. I remember seeing the film as a young boy and this character sent shivers down my spine. The visual image is enough to have you cowering behind a cushion, and Hannah brings back all of those feelings deliciously, although I now don't hide my face behind a pillow... well not in the theatre anyway. The physicality she brings to the character is almost spider-like, as if she is poised like a tightly coiled spring, just ready to pounce on a rogue child.

The large ensemble consisted of Ashley Bright, Daisy Bright, Alison Darlow-Carter, Maddie Dunstan, Guy French, Nicky Hignett, Al Jordan, Paul Marriott, Amy McMurray, Laura Moore, Hannah Osgood, Jonah Robinson, Julie Robinson, Jayne Sanderson, Naomi Sandford, Millie Stapleford and Laura Tindle. Where would we be without an ensemble in any theatre production, and this ensemble show they are worth their weight in gold.

Team Truly consist of Rio Hatcher (Toby), Caleb Johnston (Steven), Lyla McMurray (Marta), Arla-Rae Neale (Greta), Darcy Peaty (Susan) and Edie Peaty (Girl).

Team Scrumptious is made up of Ezra Hinsley-Sarkar (Toby), Riley Bailey (Steven), Evie Robinson (Marta), Esmae-Rose Goodwin (Greta), Isabelle Clarke (Susan) and Ell-J Thurman (Girl).

The children's ensemble consist of two teams; Team Truly and Team Scrumptious......

Team Truly, the team on stage on Thursday night, consisted of Izzy Jewitt, Izzy Murray, Amelia Rees and Abigail Rundle-Brown.

Team Scrumptious consisted of Rosy Allen, Ruby Davenport, Lilian McFerran and Brooke Wingfield.

A fresh and punchy direction by Nick Sutcliffe, matches the wonderful choreography by Frankie Johnson. One of my favourite choreographed sections from the film is the iconic fairground scene and the song "Me Ol' Bamboo" which is possibly the most energetic and technically difficult piece to perform live on stage, but Ben and the ensemble just made it look like it is something they do every day.

You'll instantly remember most of the songs from the production, "Toot Sweets", "Truly Scrumptious","Hushabye Mountain", "Me Ol Bamboo", "Chu Chi Face", "Doll On A Music Box" and of course the title song. Musical Director is Vicky Hing, and as soon as I saw her name in the programme a tingle went through me because I know the standard of MD'ing you get with Vicky, and I was not wrong. Powerful, whimsical, lush, pacy, all adjectives I'd pin to the musical side of this show with Vicky in charge of the baton. The acoustics at Loughborough Town Hall have always been brilliant and the twelve piece orchestra sounded as good as anything I have heard in any theatre.

The set design and car hire were provided by Chitty Hire; again if you hire and work with the best, you get the best. Both set and car are pure magic and that's what you get in this show; magic.

Background Cloths by Scenic Projects.

Costumes for this show must go into the hundreds, or so they seem. The cast and ensemble number greatly so with just one costume there's plenty to wardrobe manage, but they all looked absolutely spiffing. Costumes by Charades - Theatrical Costume Hire of St Helens.

Sound Designer is David Phillips. No mic issues at all and a lovely balanced all round sound that made the show a really pleasant experience.

Lighting Designer is by James Cladingboel and Ben Bradshaw and Laura Hambleton worked magic with the follow spots.

Anyone who has seen, been involved or spoken at length about this musical will know that it's a big production. I know that everyone, from the Director to the cast and the backstage team could not have done any more than they have done on stage this week. It's always been one of my favourite childhood stories - I even had a metal Chitty car with retractable wings when I was a kid, and it very quickly became one of my favourite musicals, and CTC have just reinforced why I love this bang banger of a musical as much as I do.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at Loughborough Town Hall until Saturday 24 January.

 "Seasons Greetings" by Alan Ayckbourn.

Bonington Players.

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

The follow up to Ayckbourn’s “Absurd Person Singular” in regards to festive plays. Christmas Eve at the Bunker household and Belinda and Neville are hosting. Neville slightly distracted by his various gadgets and Belinda tending the tree and being the perfect hostess. Bernard, a doctor, apparently not a very good one, Harvey, the Uncle is in front of the TV, watching some violence, and Neville and Eddie are engrossed in constructing remote control Christmas Tree lights. Rachel, Belinda’s sister is awaiting Clive, a writer who is in a non-starter of a relationship with Rachel. When Clive turns up, he seems to have eyes for someone else in the Bunker family. Throw into the mix a heavily pregnant Pattie and her selfish and quite lazy husband, Eddie and Bernard's lush of a wife, Pippa.

Act One sets the scene, and introduces all of the characters in the play, and gets you ready for an explosive, but very funny Act Two.

There are several wonderfully funny highlights within Act Two, which I won’t spoil but includes a brilliantly entertaining puppet show, created and performed by Bernard.

While being one of Ayckbourn’s funniest plays, it also highlights the sadness wallowing under the surface of suburbia and the pressure that some people are put under at Christmas to live up to what others expect of them.

Neville, Phyllis's brother, always busy fiddling with anything mechanical out in his shed, or on the dining room table, is played by Christian King. It may seem that Neville is either bored, or maybe no longer cares about Belinda, as bore out in a conversation between the pair while Neville is, yet again fiddling with a screwdriver and wires, but there's then a scene that shows his protective and caring side of his marriage. Christian I've seen now in several plays by The Bonington Players and know, just by looking at the show programme, that we will be in for a character-filled role from Mr King.

Belinda, who endures a stale marriage to Neville and resorts to flapping about the house, is played by Anna Hodkin. Anna portrays the hostess with the mostest, or maybe just the normal wife and mother at this time of year absolutely perfectly, and I've never seen anyone dress a Christmas Tree with such style and speed as Anna in the opening scene. Without giving too much away for anyone who does not know the story, there's a scene where Belinda shows her more passionate side, which is the direct opposite to the very last scene that Anna acts out where you again feel remorse or loss for the character.

Pippa, Neville's lush of a sister, is played by Lindsey Hemingway. My favourite script delivery from a character in "Seasons Greetings". I was so sure that I had spotted the source and inspiration for the real lush sections of the play, which Lindsey confirmed to me after the show to be correct - I won't spoil it by revealing that source. Loved the snakes and ladders scene and even though we weren't privy to the Christmas Eve kitchen scene, I had images in my head of Lindsey of how it would look from the descriptions from what was happening in the kitchen from the other characters. Marvellous method acting I imagine as I could never imagine Lindsey herself being a lush!

Harvey is Neville and Pippa's uncle, a cantankerous man who boasts about "thirty years' experience" as a security officer and bemoans the collapse of society while himself gorging on TV violence. Played by Philip Chapman, Harvey could have been lifted straight out of an unwritten "Fawlty Towers" episode. Having all that "security" experience of course makes him think that he can spot a felon immediately, and when one comes along that he thinks this about, he pulls no punches in exposing his arsenal of weapons he carries about his person. When he thinks someone is a "wrong'un", he takes action! I imagine Philip has had great fun in rehearsals getting this character just right, because it was fun from an audience point of view to watch Harvey evolve.

Bernard, Pippa's is a feeble-spirited doctor with strong views on non-violence. Every year he creates an elaborate puppet show for the children, which he fondly imagines they enjoy (though they actually hate it). Played by Wayne Hill there is almost a character within a character persona played out by Wayne. First off, the bumbling medical man, backed up in the conversations from the family members, and then in a scene later in the second act. Then there is this wonderful puppeteer role with puppet theatre (Philip Chapman, Helen Gardner and David Sweeney) and the most hilarious production of "The Three Little Pigs".

Rachel is Belinda's emotionally fuddled sister. Played by Abigail Taylor, she plays down her emotions for Clive, the writer who she has invited to stay over for the Christmas present giving period, but we soon see the depth of her feelings for her good-looking fancy man.

Eddie, a lacklustre man who tried to strike out on his own, workwise, but failed, is played by Luke Richardson. He'll do anything to not be in the same room as his wife and kids, only showing any sign of feelings for Pattie at one stage of the play, and for the shortest time. Ayckbourn is fantastic at people watching and writing characters from the people that he has observed, and you can just tell that this is one of those characters that he just had to create a character for. Wonderfully lazy, the sort of character that you'll see at most family gatherings sat in the kitchen avoiding everything and everyone, especially his wife. One scene to especially look out for is an explosive one concerning Pattie and Eddie and a book!

Pattie is Eddie's pregnant wife, largely ignored by her husband, is played by Jenny Adams. Jenny's physicality is spot on; there's not one movement that she makes without having the thought of how a pregnant woman would move or think. I am not going to automatically assume that Jenny has been in this position in her life, but it was almost as if she was "with child" on stage creating every move from that viewpoint. Another highlight that Jenny creates is the scene where she is helping Bernard with his puppet show.

Clive, a young writer and in a non-starter of a relationship with Rachel, is played by Billy Bamberger. I had to look twice because the last time I saw Billy, just a couple of weeks' ago he had his usual facial hair; for this role he is completely clean shaven and looks so different. Clive has an effect on one of the characters in the play and the scene between these two characters and a singing and dancing Christmas tree is another of this play's highlights. Billy made his Bonington Players' debut in his last production at Bonington Theatre, and it's good to see him back on stage again as this suave writer.

Directed by  Howard Whitehurst, who also designed the wonderful set. The only thing that slowed the pace to this show down was the scene changes, but these were covered by suitable musical interventions, but there were quite a few props to remove and replace for the five scenes. The cast are perfectly cast to their characters and is so life mirroring (is there such a word?) that he makes you feel like flies on a wall at a festive gathering.

Lighting and Sound Design is by David Goatham. Sound operation is by Michelle Bellamy and the Lighting Operator is Peter Hodgkinson.

There are so many props in this production, sourced and set dressed by Linda Whitehurst.

The costumes are sourced by Lindsey Hemingway.

I've seen this play before, but I could watch anything written by Alan Ayckbourn over and over again and still laugh as loud, especially with this cast. You will be able to spot your own family members within this play and laugh along with, and at them. Brilliantly acted by all, and I even spotted a couple of the actors secretly smiling to themselves at a couple of sections of the play, so if the cast are still enjoying their own play, after weeks of rehearsals, then you know that you're on to a winner. Either that or just listen to the volume of laughter throughout this two and a half hour festive fun fest (including interval).

"Seasons Greetings" is at The Bonington Theatre, Arnold until Saturday 24 January. 

 "Single White Female"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This is a new stage play, adapted by author, journalist and broadcaster, Rebecca Reid and is a social media infused reimagining of the 1992 movie of the same name and book by John Lutz. Adapted for the stage by Rebecca Reid.

Recently divorced Allie advertises for a flatmate to help manage single parenthood as well as the new apartment that she and her teenage daughter have just moved into, while launching her tech startup. When the seemingly perfect lodger Hedy arrives, their lives become increasingly intertwined, and the arrangement begins to unravel in unexpected ways, as Allie discovers that Hedy is not the stranger that she first appears, and they have more in common than first appears!

Allie is played by Lisa Faulkner, who returns to the stage after far too many years, and is someone whose talented fingers are in many pies, quite literally, as she has carved out quite a career as a TV cook, writer, presenter and winner of "Celebrity Masterchef", as well as being a very successful actress. There are some brilliant mood explosions as she discovers that Hedy is becoming just a little too involved in her life, and I really enjoyed the way that she was drawn to a full stop when little things that Hedy dropped into their conversation, but then carried on; all due probably to the speed that her working and personal life was escalating at. Brilliantly played out by Lisa throughout this spine tingling thriller.

Hedy is played by Kym Marsh. It's no secret that I have been a fan of Kym's from her early pop music days, and that is no hearsay. She went on to be a regular in "Coronation Street" playing Michelle Connor, won several awards for her TV work and is currently in "Waterloo Road". Kym is no stranger to playing slightly unhinged characters on stage either as she has played Cruella de Vil as well as Alex Forest in "Fatal Attraction", so playing Hedy is a walk in the park. 

You know when you're watching TV and you feel like shouting at the screen, well that's how I felt about some of the things that Kym brought to the stage. Every muscle in my body tightened while watching Kym and Lisa on stage because of the intensity of the action and intentions of the actions. The final scenes from Kym became quite the scare fest as Hedy's behaviour spiralled completely out of control. This performance brought back memories of "Fatal Attraction" from four years ago, thinking of twisted psychopathic women.

Graham is played by Andro, who I know better as being part of a brilliant soul band called Jungle, but has recently turned to acting and already has a sizeable acting resume to his name. Graham is Allie's supportive, gay best friend and business partner. He provides comic relief and a connection to the outside world as Allie's life unravels with her obsessive roommate. Look out for some excellent make up on Andro in the final scenes!

Jonny McGarrity plays Sam, the ex-boyfriend whose messy breakup prompts Allie to find a roommate. Your feelings towards this character do a complete U Turn when you discover what his fate is, which is a sign of a brilliant actor to make your feelings and attitude change on a sixpence. His morals may be questionable but his ending is definitely a sight for sore eyes!

Amy Snudden plays Bella, Allie's vulnerable 15 year old daughter. She is a character created for the stage play and does not appear in the original film. She is an important addition as it allows the story to be brought up to date with the inclusion of everything to do with identity and obsession within social media. She has just moved to a new school, where she is being bullied for not fitting in, but there's a lot more to this sideline story than meets the eye, as we discover right at the very end of the play. Another excellent performance and Amy delivers a bratty and spoilt teenager persona, but as I said, there's a lot more to this teenager than first meets the eye! The twist at the end brings into mind nature Vs nurture, as well as another train of thought, but I'll leave that for you to decide.

Directed by Gordon Greenberg, it feels quite cinematic, and having seen the film years ago, the stage version is similar to watching the film, just with different actors and with a more modern story intertwined. It still has the intensity of the film, probably more so because what is happening is so close to you physically. It also brings home to you the intimacy of being in a small flat with other people, especially when, as an outsider, you can see the layers of evil being pared away.

The set design, by Morgan Large, looks beautifully upmarket with the kitchenette and sitting room with the three bedrooms leading off the main sitting room.

The lighting by Jason Taylor, and sound by Max Pappenheim work brilliantly hand in hand to create the thrills and atmosphere.

I also must really give a mention to Kaitlin Howard who is the Fight and Intimacy Director, because the violence in the play was really realistic, and again brought forth large, audible intakes of breath. 

In a modern world of social media where we let strangers into our lives and where everything to know about a person is, quite often, out there for all to see, this stage production is as bang up to date as you're going to get, and just as frightening as the film was back in 1992. And if you're thinking of taking in a lodger this year..... make sure all of your stilettos are locked away!

Being a fan of both Ms Marsh and Ms Faulkner, I was always going to love this play version, and the intense, muscle clenching, white knuckle gripping rollercoaster of a thriller is a ride that I will gladly buy another ticket for.

"Single White Female" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 24 January.