I?HAVE to admit I’m not the biggest fan of pantomimes - even ones I’ve written myself. Thankfully the same can’t be said of the members of Abergavenny Pantomime Company, whose talent, energy and sheer enthusiasm shines from the stage of the Borough Theatre, this week, as it has for the past 85 years.

Much is made of Abergavenny’s community spirit and never is it more obvious than with this company, which attracts members of all ages, provides live entertainment at family friendly prices and hands its profits back to local good causes.

Alright, now and again the performances are a bit rough around the edges but this is community theatre at its best put on by the community, for the community, the for the benefit of the community.

This year the company turned its attention to the classic tale of Snow White, who in politically correct times was joined on stage by her friends the seven wharfers...rough and ready men who worked on the local wharf and were uncannily portrayed by Hywel Lewis, Sam Price, Tomos Lang, Hermione Williams, Miranda Newsam, Richard Wride and Syd Bawler.

In the central role of Snow White, Honey McKenna looked every inch the Disney princess with her saccharine sweetness nicely counterpointed by Molly Brickley-Clark as the evil Queen Malodorous.

Tristan Williams and Kerrigan Heffernan worked well as the comic duo of Sludge and Slime with Emma Davies suitably off-hand and sarcastic as the Magic Mirror.

Suzanne Meates combined elegance with comedy as the traditional Fairy Godmother complete with rhyming couplets and the obligatory ‘Nobody Loves a Fairy When She’s Forty’ and was eagerly aided and abetted by Millie Vaughan as her walking, talking book.

Leah McCann made a handsome if slightly intellectually challenged rock and roll Prince Rupert, kept on track enough to win the hand of Snow White by the end of the evening, by her two sidekicks Caitlyn Price and Cara Newsam.

Also raising a smile from the audience was a comic pairing of Zac Williams and John Newsam as the Lord High Executioner Charley the Chopper and his assistant Clomp with a great cameo from Peter Holder as an oversized garden gnome.

As always the biggest laughs of the evening..almost... were reserved for the now traditional pairing of Ken Jones and Stephen Clark who this year played the palace cleaner Dame Norma Snockers and court jester Chuckles.

In something of a shock move this year Ken Jones has actually learned some lines...well at least managed to write some of them on his hand, which in fairness is pretty much the same thing.

While the same can’t be said for Stephen Clark for whom every vaguely familiar line comes as a surprise this barely diminishes their enduring popularity with the audience who cheer their every move.

It was however one of the smallest characters in the show for whom the biggest laughs were reserved on opening night. Diminutive Axel Bawler stole every scene as the palace’s Page with his deadpan delivery raising hoots of laughter from the audience and marking him out as a future Borough Theatre star.

As always panto would not be panto without the enthusiasm and energy of the chorus, which raises the level of performance with each appearance with some lively numbers which got the audience cheering.

So at the end of it all - is this the best show in the world??Probably not. In short...it’s panto and panto Abergavenny style. If you’re looking for slick professionalism and polished delivery then probably give it a miss, but if you fancy a family night out at the theatre, with a few good laughs, some good music and oodles of good old fashioned fun from a company which can cope with a fire evacuation half way through the opening number, entertain the audience on the street before picking up again back on stage as if nothing had happened...then you probably won’t go wrong with Snow White. And as tickets for the remaining nights are now like gold dust it seems you won’t be on your own.

Here’s to another 85 years of Abergavenny’s very own pantomime company.