Review: Burnley's Greenbook Pantomime Society's Rapunzel is a cracker of a show and the perfect way to banish those January blues

A trip to see the Greenbrook Methodist Church Pantomine Society perform its annual show is the tonic and has been for me for at least 20 years.

I brought my daughter to the shows when she was a little girl and she is now almost 25. Then I watched them when she joined the society and started appearing in them until she was around 14.

Over the years many actors have come and gone, but one thing is certain with Greenbrook, the show never fails to entertain its audience and this year's offering is Rapunzel, the enchanting tale of the baby princess who is kidnapped by wicked witch and imprisoned in a tower where the only means of getting in is to climb up Rapunzel's ridiculously long hair.

Emily Greenall plays the title role with real sass, not for her the demure princess act. Elliot Griffiths as her 'knight in shining armour' Rudi O'Malley played the role with understated comic timing and he has an excellent singing voice.

Of course there is no panto without a dame and this year's was Hilda Blunderberg played by Ryan Bradley. It would be so easy to go over the top with this kind of character but Ryan resists the temptation, playing the character for laughs without overshadowing the rest of the cast. Teamed with Olivia Hirst as Max his son the duo played some great comic scenes.

Helen Ingham as the evil stepmother Gothel gave a tour de force performance. She was confident and sophisticated and practically oozed wickedness.

The mark of a good panto is how the audience reacts and the first night audience I was in lapped up the show and loved getting involved.

There were quite a few youngsters in also and their honest reactions provided a lot of mirth for the audience including the moment when a little voice from the darkness piped up: "Is that true?" when one of the characters said drinking too much water can kill you.

I was also delighted to see so many of the younger cast on the stage, singing and dancing their way through several well rehearsed and choregraphed numbers. They all performed beautifully. The show runs next week from Thursday to Saturday, January 19th to 21st

Tickets are available from http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/greenbrook-panto or ring 01282 719462