"Alice In Wonderland" by Bingham Musical Theatre Company and BSC Theatricals.

Bingham Methodist Centre, Bingham.

The story of Alice who went down the rabbit hole, into Wonderland, and the crazy selection of characters she encounters.

It was like being a kid again, loving the crazy mayhem and childish humour, as well as being able to appreciate the darker side of the story. It was almost like panto had come early.

I am sure that I have not seen this particular version of the story before because it seemed that there were so many different script pieces added to this which in turn added to the fun and a more comic storyline.

Holly Loran, who is just nine years old, is playing Marigold The Flower, and is the youngest member if the cast.

Ellie Stothard played The Dormouse so well, she made me feel sleepy. Well, there is something incredibly infectious about seeing someone yawn. It was nothing to do with the show as all the racing about and energy from the other cast members were enough to keep any dormouse awake! Ellie also rose to the occasion as Rose later on.

Annabelle Black plays Young Alice and the Knave. After young Alice ate the "Eat Me" parcel, left by The Caterpillar, Alice reappeared grown up, but came back as the Knave, eager to get herself out of trouble by painting the Queen's white roses red, because the wrong ones had been planted. Guilty or Innocent? With these characters as witnesses and the Queen having the final say, her head looks in danger of being lopped off!

Celia Bostridge plays Alice, well the older Alice who got to meet more of the inhabitants of Wonderland and got to play croquet with the Queen Of Hearts.

Alicia Richardson plays The Queen Of Hearts. Ooh! she is a nasty piece of work going round the audience demanding their heads be cut off. I can imagine Alicia had great fun with this bossy role.

Fred Waddingham plays The King. This is his first stage role since school and some of that bossiness seemed to be rubbing off on His Majesty as he accused one of the front row audience members of wanting to steal his crown. Well, he had no chance of bossing The Queen around has he?

Karen Richards takes the role of The White Rabbit; you know the one that was always late. Brilliantly excitable all the time, and I loved the costume.

Sydney Adams is the movement director, The Cheshire Cat and Tiger Lily. Sydney really embodied the characteristic of the cat. Being a cat owner, you just know that the cat is always the boss and will only do what she wanted to do, and that came over really well in Sydney's acting.

Paul Green doubles up as The Caterpillar and Tweedledee. The pairing of Paul with Nik was a brilliant piece of casting because between them they created one of the funniest scenes in the "battle" scene, all to the introduction to the song "Eye Of A Tiger" for that extra dramatic effect.

Nik Hudson also doubles roles as Tweedledum and the voice of Humpty Dumpty, which I really enjoyed with the voice characterisation for the oval one.

Emily Hudson plays The March Hare and Emma Townsend plays The Mad Hatter, and here is another wonderful coupling, and both with great timing as well, creating comedy mayhem with the tea party scene. They wear you out just watching this energetic twosome.

Vicki Goodwin is The Narrator, the glue that binds all of the characters together.

The Director is Ben Bradley who also designed the set, the costumes and operated the sound as well. He probably sweeps up after the show as well! Loved the simplicity look to the set with the giant playing cards with black curtains between the giant cards for entrances and exits for the cast.

Ellen Loran also takes on Direction duties as well as playing Violet and helped with the costume designs, which may I say were absolutely splendid and quite wacky as well.

There's a brilliant energy within this cast, and the show is perfect for a younger audience, especially as it is pitched at the right level comedy wise, and it's not a long play either. That said, I enjoyed the simplicity and the craziness of the show. Great fun for all ages.

"Alice In Wonderland" is being performed at Bingham Methodist Centre until Saturday 22 October where there may be a chance of getting a ticket as Friday night was sold out!