WHETHER you are a fan of pantomimes, Christmas shows or determinedly non-Christmas shows in December, there will be something on stage for you in the south and west this season. In all my years reviewing, I have never seen so many offerings, from the big starry shows in the cities to the unpaid performers in village halls.

On the pantomime front, this year’s most popular story is Jack and the Beanstalk – the one about the poverty-stricken boy sent by his mother to sell the family cow at market, but instead selling it to a stranger (DANGER!) for a bag of gold that turns out to be beans that later are thrown out by the angry mother and grow overnight to reach the sky where the giant who is terrorising the village lives. Jack climbs the beanstalk, nicks a magic hen, plays a magic harp and saves the day. See it at Bristol Hippodrome [6 Dec to 4 Jan], Salisbury Playhouse [29 Nov to 11 Jan], Exeter Northcott [27 Nov to 4 Jan] or Weymouth Pavilion [19 Dec to 3 Jan].

Then there is the ever-popular Cinderella, a poor girl whose father marries a second wife who comes with two ghastly daughters in tow. When our heroine meets a prince disguised as a page, they fall in love at first sight, and before long the step-sisters are abusing Cinders, but they all end up at the Court Ball, a fairy comes to the fore, and they live happily ever after. This year it is at Bournemouth Pavilion [6 Dec to 4 Jan], Exeter Barnfield [3 to 13 Dec], Weston-super-Mare Playhouse [6 to 31 Dec] and at Leweston School outside Sherborne [18 to 20 Dec], performed by new company, B-Scene.

J M Barrie’s immortal Peter Pan will be flying in to Bath Theatre Royal [11 Dec to 11 Jan] and Southampton Mayflower [13 Dec to 4 Jan], all ready to take the Darling children on a trip to Neverland, all the while trying to escape the wrath (pronounced like ROTH, not rath) of the dastardly Captain Hook. Look out for the comic Smee, a band of Lost Boys, native Americans, talking dogs and a ticking crocodile. Hook and Smee from Bath are pictured above right.

The tale of Dick Whittington, the country boy who set off to London to find his fortune, met a super-helpful cat, fell in love with his boss’s daughter, set sail for the Barbary Coast, saved the natives from rats and and became Lord Mayor of London is always a popular one, and it will be at Poole Lighthouse [11 Dec to 4 Jan] and Plymouth Theatre Royal [12 Dec to 10 Jan] this season.

Goodness and kindness are front and centre in Beauty and the Beast, on stage at Yeovil’s Westlands [12 Dec to 4 Jan]. It’s all about not following the herd and not judging by appearances, and, as in all pantomime stories, the good win and are happy ever after.

Treasure Island comes right back to its roots in King Street for the Bristol Old Vic Christmas show [4 Dec to 10 Jan]. Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have visited the 1664 built Llandoger Trow, just down the road from the theatre, and used it as his inspiration for the Admiral Benbow in the rollicking adventure story. Up in Clifton, the Redgrave Theatre hosts a production of Sleeping Beauty [5 Dec to 4 Jan], and at Bedminster, Rapunzel will be called on to let down her hair at the Tobacco Factory this season [27 Nov to 17 Jan].

The Dickens classic A Christmas Carol is always a popular choice, and this year it is at Bournemouth’s Palace Court performed by students of Arts University Bournemouth [20 to 22 Nov], at the Redgrave performed by Bristol Old Vic Theatre School students [24 to 29 Nov], and at Cirencester’s Barn Theatre as the big festive show, from 1 December to 4 January.

Wimborne’s Tivoli brings Goldilocks and Three (perhaps re-wilded) bears to Dorset from 13 December to 4 January, in a story that children love and parents might remember – it’s not done so often these days.

Taunton Brewhouse’s show is The Nutcracker [2 to 28 Dec], and this is not the ballet but the original story. Dorothy will be looking at the weather forecast for her arrival at Strode Theatre, where Kansas is the setting and Oz and its Wizard the destination [21 to 31 December.]

The touring Bumblefly company has linked up again with Forest Forge, and this year will be touring Pinocchio, that anti-Trumpian story about the need to tell the truth, from 5 December to 11 January.

Gilroy Theatre returns to the Marine at Lyme Regis with a seasonal tale – but after last year’s successful Christmas Carol, the 2025 offering is a stage adaptation of an all-time classic Christmas film, 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life, set in Bedford Falls, where an angel visits a miserable man to show him how much he is loved and needed. [19 to 22 Dec]

There doesn’s seem to be a single pre-Christmas production of Aladdin this year …

Look at the Arts Diary for full dates of all these pantomimes and Christmas shows, and reviews later, too.