"Puss In Boots"

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

The panto writing super team of Amanda Hall and Matt Wesson are back again with another fun-filled pantomime that is purr-fect for the whole family this Christmas. This will be Amanda's tenth consecutive panto that she has penned. The combination of this pair's talents guarantee that they know exactly what it takes to entertain audiences of every age.

The action is set in the small Welsh town of Poppity Ping where Colin Pasta and his siblings, Mia Pasta, Marco Pasta and Benito Pasta live with their Mum, Dame Penny Pasta. King Ivor, who lives with his daughter Princess Bethan, employs Sir Hector the Tax Inspector, who's job is to collect the taxes to give to the Ogre, who would abduct the Princess if not paid. But there is a twist in this tale.........

Colin, who works for his Mum, as well as in the Cobblers to make ends meet has a bit of a soft spot for the Princess and dreams of marrying her, but surely only a Prince can marry a Princess? Colin also has a pet cat, a stray, who once Vanessa The Shoe Fairy has cast a spell on the boots, intended for Colin, Puss finds his voice and gets to help Colin out. Meow? Well, you'll have to see the panto to discover what happens.

Sian Hooton is Vanessa the Show Fairy, who kicks the panto off. Typically, in rhyme and in a Welsh brogue, she kept the flow of the panto going.

Mike Pearson is Dame Penny Pasta, and a welcome return to the frock and heels for Mike. Nottingham is blessed with dames, well they used to say that there were seven to every young man in the City, but seriously folks, in Nottingham there are some very talented male actors who make excellent Dames, and Mike is one of them. And who better to write Dame jokes than another Dame, Matt Wesson. Mike really worked hard to get the audience in panto mood and succeeds by the end. Great costumes, by Jules Sheppard, and make up and a nice delivery of lines, even with just a little help in the pit.

Emily-Hope Wilkins is Colin Pasta, and one of many very strong voices in this cast. Instantly likeable and packed with energy, and just wait until you see Colin's wedding outfit; very stylish.

Mason Hart as Puss, or should that be Galmour-puss? Love the droll delivery of the lines, as if he knows that he is so above everyone else; well don't all cats? Lovely regional accent atop of one classy cat, and even though I was only aware of Puss's song in this panto, "Fun Fun Fun", because I have the "Cat In The Hat" soundtrack and I did like the "seaside/music hall" style humour of this song.

Tilly Wishart plays Mia Pasta. Another character who has bundles of energy and a strong singing voice, and always looks like she is having fun whenever she is on stage.

Patrick McChrystal plays Marco and Laura Ellis plays Benito. On or off stage they make a great pairing and bounce off each other well. In Act Two there is a great scene where they both apply for jobs working for Sir Hector. It's very reminiscent of the Abbot & Costello sketch "Who's on First", but is great fun and well delivered by Paddy, Laura and Joe.

Joe Butler is the nasty Sir Hector the Tax Inspector, and I actually enjoyed this nasty piece of work the more the panto progressed because there were layers of Hector's character that I hadn't expected. Normally with a bad guy, they can be one dimensional, but this character is deeper and darker, and I get a sneaking suspicion that Joe enjoyed playing this character very much.

I did have to smile to myself at one part in Act Two where to my right-hand side there was a particular "gobby kid" who felt that they had to comment with great volume nearly all the way through the panto, and albeit not to this particular child, one of Hector's lines was "If you wanted to be in the panto, you should have come to rehearsals".

Princess Bethan's role is shared by Charlotte Barrington and Megan Leahy, and whichever actor you get to see play the Princess, you'll be in for a treat. Amelia Walton is Gwen, the Princess's best friend

Mike Newbold plays King Ivor, and what I love about Mike is that he will throw himself into any role. King Ivor is one of those roles that is made for Mike; slightly bumbling - King Ivor that is, not Mike. And he still manages to not look out of place in the several modern dance numbers in this panto.

There are two sets of teams over the performance period, Team Bolognaise (the team I saw) who were Daisy Hillery, Sadie Ridley, Chloe Sims, Ruby Armstrong, Savannah Ajula, Neveah Joihal, Grace Moroziuk and Sophia Rees, and Team Dragon who are Alannah Hills, Isobel Farr, Eliza Szejda, Hermione Cumbers, Olivia Finch, Emma Price, Mia Jacks, Sahazra Peddi and Betsy Stevens.

Directed by Cassie Hall, this is a song heavy panto, which may not all be recognisable songs to the average panto audience but there is a smattering of well-known tunes from over the decades. For me, I don't feel the inclusion of Puss's fur balls repetition added anything to the panto and was left wondering why they were included at all. That said the cast choice was spot on and was paced about right.

Loved the clever pasta puns and the Faster Master Pasta Maker scene, which was gentle slapstick, the Gnocchi continuation joke and audience participation as well as the puppets plus the aforementioned "What/Who" section, and of course the obligatory "groan" jokes as well some clever new jokes that I had not heard before.

Sound by Rob Kettridge, and this is the first show for a while that there have been no missed sound cues - even the Playhouse panto had one slight missed cue, but not one missed cue here at the Arts Theatre. And may I also say what a lovely clear sound throughout the show; I could hear every word and the music mix was fabulously balanced.

Lighting by Oliver Read, and I know that if Oliver is in charge of the lighting design, then it's in professional and safe hands, and I was not disappointed. A great light design operated cleanly by Arona Jones with stealthily operated follow spots by Cathy Bodman and George Wilson.

Musical Direction is by Samantha Hedley, who I know of by her work with the Kristian Thomas Company.

As previously mentioned, there were a lot of songs that may not be instantly recognisable. "Opening Up" from "Waitress" opens the show up, George Ezra's album track "Gold Rush Kid", while being uptempo and catchy, would be lost on most people. There are however plenty of recognisable songs to tap a toe or a foot to.

The choreography is by Charlotte Barrington, Sian Hooton and Megan Leahy. I loved the short tap dance routine as well as the short ballet routine, in fact all of the choreography was appreciated by this particular Strictly enthusiast.

Loved the set design, by Amanda and Cassie Hall. Loved the energy, loved the jokes (good and groanable) and love the value for money entertainment you get with the Arts Theatre; almost three hours long.

Not only that you can keep yourself warm in the interval with some gorgeously fruity mulled wine and mince pies.

"Puss In Boots" will be at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Sunday 18 December.