This delightful Western-Pantomime was excellent winter fare, a wildly crazy plot with risqué jokes and hilarious characterisations, including of course a panto horse. The enthusiastic and confident cast, a mixture of amateur and professional performers, gave it their all, often reappearing as new characters in amazingly quick time.

Director Claire Hewitt ensured the acting was uniformly well up to standard, and the staging was imaginative and assured. It was especially satisfying to have a real live traditional pantomime dame, sporting corset, ringlets, and full beard, while Laura Wells made a marvellously wicked villain who took on the whole noisy audience ("Why you!! Worst audience ever!!").

My loudest cheers however are reserved for the disarmingly modest hero, Johnny Sunrise himself, portrayed to perfection by "Principal Boy" Natalie Milne, who charmed all with her bowlegged cowboy waddle in boots, short black pants and naturally, fishnet tights.

The colourful set epitomised the Wild West of the cartoons, with the odd tumbleweed blowing across it, and the whole lively production was enhanced by the witty accompaniment of comical live sound effects from the very talented Danny Still, who also scripted the show.

This was that rarity, a night of genuine unpretentious fun for all the family and to my mind deserves another showing at Christmas. Please, Playhouse, make the Pantomime an annual or even biannual event!

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