Puss in Boots

Yesterday we had our (nearly) annual Christmas treat of going to the pantomime at the Theatre Royal. (I say nearly - we missed it last year because I forgot to book early). This year it is Puss in Boots...

We had a box in the Upper Circle...

It was great to see James Nickerson back as the dame (Nellie Gwyn)...

He was on top form. We thought that Princess Caroline (Abi Newberry) was quite funny too.

The baddies were Oliver Cromwell (Mark Stratton)and his henchman Hench (Dennis Herdman). Here they are clowning around with a plank.

Jack (Bradley Clarkson) and Puss (Helena Blackman) were the heroes and led the story well. There was some entertaining ad-libbing, for example when Jack asked the audience how to find the way. "Get a map"... "No there isn't a map in the woods"... "Get a SatNav"... "No your supposed to tell me to ask the cat".... "Ah. A CatNav!".

The real heroes, though, were the cats. No I won't spoil the plot by telling you how they defeated nasty Oliver Cromwell, but you won't be surprised to hear the story ended with a wedding and everyone living happily ever after.

As always, a really entertaining afternoon out; it got us well in the mood for Christmas. You can see more of my pictures here on Flickr; the show runs until Sunday 18th January.