LOOKING down the names of the characters in this show, with legendary Motown recording stars like Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson Five amongst them, my companion remarked “”I know all of them but who is Berry Gordy?” And I dare say the same thought crossed the minds of many…

FROM the darkest forests of Bavaria, to the alleyways of the souks of Marrakech to the frozen wastes of Siberia to … this place … Salisbury.   So begins Shivers, stories from The Book of Darkness and Light.   There are few things I like better on a chilly winter’s evening than a good ghost story and…

IT’S oooo-arrrrrh and shiver me timbers when Paul Nicholas dons the cavalier curls and prosthetic hand of Captain Hook, the arch- baddie of Bath’s Christmas pantomime – and the children love it. Of course it all happens as the heroic Peter flies high in the sky over the stage, ready to take the Darling children…

BARONESS Orczy’s thrilling tale of international espionage, The Scarlet Pimp­ernel, first published in 1905, is the inspiration for Chris­to­pher William Hill’s Christ­mas show at the egg in Bath. Kate Cross’s production, on until 13th Janu­ary, fills the stage with poodles, wigs and food as well as swashbuckling adventures. The moral complexities of the original children’s…

NEVER work with children, animals or Brian Conley – that’s how the pantomime adage ought to go. He’s playing Buttons in Bristol Hippodrome’s Cinderella, on until 6th January, by which time his fellow cast members may know what he’s about to do … but I doubt it. This is the most popular of all pantomime…

IN an era when it is fashionable to put your own interpretation on classic stories, rather than faithfully adapt them from the page to the stage, it was a pleasure to find an adapter, Mike Kenny and director Toby Hulse with enough faith in Edith Nesbit’s original text to let it stand on its own…

THE story of the poor boy from (in this case) Poole who goes to London, where the streets are paved with gold, to make his fortune and fulfill his destiny is a pantomime perennial – with plenty of colourful characters, including the wicked King Rat. It is given a bright and family-friendly sparkle at this…

YEOVIL’S Christmas offering whisks its audience back to the Mar­tock suburb of Old Peking, all ready for the retelling of the story of the villainous Abanazar and his plans for world domination. In his way stands a boy, Aladdin, whose only motivation is love … and as we all know love wins the day. The…

SAY “The Nutcracker” and you im­mediately think of a vast Christ­mas tree, centre stage – and that’s just what you get in Scott Ward and Amy Maughan’s production at Frome’s Merlin Theatre, on until 15th December. This totally delightful show, with its book and lyrics by Jenifer Toksvig (sister of Sandi) and memorably tuneful music…

FANTASTIQUE is the only word for Andrew Pollard’s delightful and delicious version of Beauty and the Beast, on stage in Salis­bury until 13th January. He cut his teeth with Bath’s Natural Theatre, so there’s little Andrew doesn’t know about ob­ser­ving the public and adapting to their needs. And there’s nothing that Salisbury needs more than…