All the fun of a traditional pantomime is just what’s needed midway through a long January, so Bembridge Village Hall’s capacity audience had come along to see ‘Dick Whittington’ to be entertained – and entertained we were! From the moment the overture struck up, to the final chorus, we laughed, cheered, booed, sang and applauded.

We first met twinkly Fairy Bow Bells (Heather Austin) who introduced the story…and the baddie, King Rat, played with wonderful over the top panto villainy by John Poerscout-Edgerton. As well as his menacing delivery, John’s height added to the character as he towered threateningly over his victims. Conveying the meaning of the speech when speaking entirely in rhyme is a challenge in itself, but both actors carried it off with aplomb, as well as displaying some mean singing and dance moves along the way.

The small but perfectly formed chorus appeared to introduce us to London. I love the way adults and children worked together, playing townsfolk and sailors; the junior chorus are clearly the star players of the future – I loved their portrayal of rats scuttling round the stage, stealing food and being chased off by Whittington’s cat. Sara Kennedy made a perfect cat, managing to convey so much just with a look and a ‘miaow’. Not that she scared the prowling Gnawbone and Gnashfang, King Rat’s Rat Pack, wonderfully portrayed by Val Michalski and Gail Yardley.

Teri Harris was on form as Captain Cuttle, whether rolling drunkenly round the London Streets or trying, and hilariously failing, to impose discipline on board ship – the scene with the mops was a highlight!! Also giving solid support was Andy Hough who doubled as Alderman Fitzwarren and the Sultan of Morocco – cue, of course, a string of sultana jokes….

Love interest Alice Fitzwarren was played with sweet delicacy by Trudie Wilson, who also showed off her singing voice to good effect, and worked well opposite Samantha Crabbe as the eponymous Dick Whittington. Samantha’s traditional thigh-slapping hero immediately engaged our interest and had a great audience rapport, especially when we failed to respond as enthusiastically as we should have done….

But for me the show really belonged to Sarah the Cook and her son Idle Jack. Chris Stroud’s Sarah was everything a panto dame should be – loud (in dress as well as voice), brilliant at interacting with the audience (thank you for the sweets!), daft and most importantly, hilarious!! Tom Spicer as Idle Jack also engaged the audience, whether with the traditional daft greeting routine or some really terrible (in a good way!) jokes and puns. Together, their energy made the slapstick cooking scene laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish.

A special mention must be made of the costume department, especially for Sarah’s wacky outfits, the well-designed sets, Susan Raybould’s musical accompaniments and the lighting and sound effects, all of which added to our enjoyment of the show.

Traditional panto – tick. Boo-worthy villain – tick. Loved up couple – tick. Plenty of daft jokes – tick. Lots of audience participation – tick. Singing, dancing and lots of fun being had – tick. One of my fellow audience members was heard to say afterwards that she had belly laughed from beginning to end – can’t ask more from a panto than that! So much hard work has gone into the show, and so much fun was clearly being had by performers as well as audience. Well done Wight Island Players!