Once again the Broughton Amateur Drama Group filled the village hall with laughter, enjoyment and enthusiastic audience participation as they presented their interpretation of the panto ‘Puss in Boots’.

General consensus seemed to be that this was the best ever but perhaps we in Broughton say this every year.

The production combined high class acting with the clever direction of a large cast on a very small stage and the very effective management of the enthusiastic participation of a large number of children and young people. Variously acting as cats, mice, rabbits, squirrels and deer, they showed talent and self discipline as full use was made of the entire hall to facilitate the coming and goings of the large cast.

Geoff Elliot the likeable Narrator kept the audience amused as he struggled at times to get on stage to keep updating the plot. Very much a successful team effort, there were strong performances from all the major players from Sarah Royle as Jack to Islay Crispin as Princess Alice and a very convincing and multi-talented performance as Puss in Boots from Nicola Mawhinney. Much laughter came from the excellent performances by Tim Evans as Dame Hettie Quette and Garry Collins as Lord Roger de Broughton, revelling yet again as the baddie of the piece. Lord Roger was very well supported by his well acted hopeless crew of Nosmo King [Nigel Ottley] and Nopar King [Dom McKay]. Tony Lydeard and Carole Collins successfully played the ineffectual King Herbert and his wife Queen Mildred.

The audience enjoyed the fitness session when the King’s personal trainer played by Kevin Taylor tried unsuccessfully to get him into good physical shape. With excellent cameo performances from Mike Moore and Nick Jones, the entertainment moved steadily forward to its eventual happy ending with lots of quick humour and well performed dancing and singing.

The back stage team and costume designers deserve a special mention in this terrific production. The scenery was first class and the costumes were superb, with great attention to detail throughout. The make up of so many varied characters was of the highest order. In the beautifully produced programme the Director, Linda Cardigan referred to working with a very special team both on stage and behind the scenes. Her words and her skills were reflected throughout as audiences were treated to a pantomime to remember.

Hobson