THERE are 36 productions featuring 24 traditional pantomimes and Christmas stories on offer in the south and west region this year, and the first one, Arthur, starts at Bath’s Egg on 19th November and runs to 3rd January.

Again the line-up is a mixture of the familiar and the new, with several book and film adaptations and new versions of beloved stories along with the classic panto themes – always with a man in a dress, young love, hissable baddies, knockabout comics and lots of audience participation.

This year’s most popular traditional pantos are Aladdin, on stage in Bournemouth Pavilion, Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil Westlands (bottom left, with Jack Glanville giving his first dame!), Cinderella at Bristol Old Vic (top left), Plymouth Theatre Royal and Weymouth Pavilion and Jack and the Beanstalk at Poole Lighthouse (top right) and Wimborne Tivoli, as well as touring with Bumblefly.

The Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol is at Bristol Tobacco Factory, Exeter Barnfield and Salisbury’s Studio Theatre, as well as Guy Masterston’s solo version touring to four local venues.

There are two productions each of Beauty and the Beast, at Bath Theatre Royal (left) and Salisbury Playhouseand Sleeping Beauty at Bristol Hippodrome and Exeter Northcott.  Dick Whittington is on at Bristol Redgrave, Robin Hood at Southampton Mayflower, Peter Pan at the Mayflower Studio and Pinocchio at Strode Theatre in Street.

Anyone who saw Emma Rice’s production of A Child’s Christmas in Wales (right) in her home venue in Frome last year will be delighted to see it in the larger space of Bath’s Ustinov Studio, where Katie Owen will lead the enchantment of Dylan Thomas’s beautifully observed study of his childhood, from 9th to 24th December.

New shows for grown-ups include Crimes on the Christmas Express at Frome Merlin from 21st December to 2nd January, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Quizmas at Bristol Tobacco Factory’s Spielman Studio from 3rd December to 5th January and Miracle on 34th Street at Lyme Regis Marine Theatre from 18th to 22nd December

Children’s shows include The Snowy Day (left) at Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio from 3rd December to 3rd January, Beneath the Snow at Bath Egg from 2nd to 12th December, The Elves and the Shoemaker at Poole Lighthouse from 21st November to 13th December, Frozen! at Frome Merlin from 4th to 12th December, Honk! at Cirencester Barn Theatre from 21st November to 3rd January, Little Snowy Hare at the Bristol Tobacco Factory Spielman Studio from 3rd December to 3rd January, Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas at Plymouth Theatre Royal Drum Studio from 26th November to 27th December, The Tailor of Gloucester at Salisbury Playhouse Salberg Studio (bottom right) from 7th to

27th December and The Very Hungry Caterpillar at Southampton Mayflower Studio from 1st to 12th December.

The Fine Times Recorder will be your guide to as many Christmas shows as we can. All are listed in our Arts Diary and we’ll be bringing you more details about all the shows when they are available.

The good old English tradition of the Christmas pantomime has a lot to answer for. If your earliest introduction to a live show embeds a magical memory of colour, music, laughter, goodies and baddies and fun with the family, you

may very well turn into a lifelong theatre-goer.  There is something unique and wonderful about live performances, as you sit in a darkened theatre and watch as the enchantment unfolds itself before your eyes.