THERE may be times when getting the lines out in the right order are more down to luck than judgement and there may be the odd moment when the melody lines to some of the songs take a quick jaunt around the stalls before heading back to the stage, but there’s one thing that is never missing from an Abergavenny?Pantomime Company production...and that is enthusiasm.

From the opening number to the rousing finale everyone on stage from the smallest dancer to the adults of the back row throws themselves into the performance and gives total commitment to the production.

This year’s cast of Sinbad was led by Molly Brickley Clark who as always gave a confident performance in the title role. Opposite her as Princess Glassolucozade was Eleanor Nicholson who pitched the comedy just right with her dry delivery the perfect foil for the hapless henchmen As and Bo - beautifully played by India Dewfield and?Caitlyn Price.

The by now traditional teaming of Stephen Clark and Ken Jones as sea-captain Mustafa Sikhbag and Dame Penelope Poopdeck worked well...especially when they took the occasional stab at the lines.

Alex Williams made a splendidly slimy Grand Vizier and has certainly perfected the comedy villain laugh, which he used to great effect. Excellent support came from Louise Morgan as Chamois, Zac Williams as Tom Tom, Emily Harrington as the Calipha, Kerrigan Heffernan as the reporter Peter Holder as the Interpreter and Ken Watkins who immediately won the audience over as the whistling Caliph.

As always the chorus numbers were well staged and performed, adding to the overall fun of the evening.

There were times when the rough edges showed which another week of rehearsal would have polished off, but as Dame Penelope said ‘what do you expected for six quid?’ and with a night of fun and laughter pretty much guaranteed who needs polish?

If you’re looking for a laugh and a way to lift the winter gloom you could do far worse than head off on a journey of laughter and music with Sinbad and his crew at the Borough Theatre until Saturday.