Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Crissy Rock, Amanda Harrington, Paul Danan, Laura Gregory, Herbert Howe, Michael Chapman, Paul Quinn, Joe Cawley.

It is a story as old as Liverpool theatres, the young damsel in distress, hated by her vain and immoral step-mother, of witchcraft, of love and a man in various dresses making all laugh before him. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is a prime example of the British Pantomime giving all who make their way to the theatre at Christmas a good time, full of songs and cheer and that in the end good will overcome evil. The Epstein Theatre’s festive foray into the world of sparkly tights and vanity mirrors is a delight that kept giving.

With local Liverpool legends Crissy Rock and Herbert Howe in the show as the evil Stepmother and the Mirror who shall tell no lies, the cast rampaged their way through a show with an unbelievable source of energy and exhaustion. Chiefly amongst these was shining stars Michael Chapman as the voluptuous Dame Val and the superb Paul Quinn as Muddles. Both actors were greeted by the V.I.P.s – the children, with a sense of awe and well-timed humour.

As it should be in the festive panto it is the children who really star and who matter most. The future of theatre attendances relies on making sure that a child’s first introduction to the smell of grease paint, beautiful fairy godmothers, dashing princes, evil tyrants and the magic therein is just right. For all the extras who danced their heart out on stage and the seven dwarfs who gave as good a performance as any, including Kyle Corrin as Bossy, this is what makes Pantomime so necessary, the chance for children to be enthralled and for adults to relive hopefully a memory of a good time out in later years.

Even the brief interlude, which is vital in panto of having two lucky children go up on stage, was a delight as one of the youngsters randomly picked upstaged the fabulous Michael Chapman in a way that a child can, not something that can normally happen to an actor who gives his all in the name of the Christmas Pantomime.

Fun and frolics for all the family at the Epstein this December.

Ian D. Hall