Aladdin -- Sutton Village Hall

IT'S panto time again -- oh yes it is, and you could do a lot worse than taking the kids along to Sutton Amateurs' Aladdin.

Ok, so the jokes have more corn than the Jolly Green Giant, but my young nephew - and the other youngsters in the audience -- seemed to enjoy it all.

A busy opening night crowd was treated to a pleasingly varied selection of songs -- most hitting the mark -- even if some of the dancing was a little jumbled.

As with any panto, the character the children look forward to most is the one they can roundly boo.

And David Knights as the evil magician Abanazer is as good a bad guy as you would wish to have.

His ad-libbed lines with the audience often raised a chuckle as did Dean Harness' good-guy Wishee Washee.

The story -- for those who don't know -- sees poor laundry boy Aladdin fall in love with the beautiful Princess Mandarin (Ella Hamer).

Aladdin, played and sung well by Alison Waters, seeks his fortune in order to marry the juicy Mandarin (sorry!) but has to foil the evil ambitions of Abanazer.

Add to that the fun and games of Philip Smith's Widow Twankey making mischief, alongside calamitous Chinese policemen Yu Dun Wong and Hu Dun Pong and you get the picture.

Some of the singing was a little weak and difficult to hear in parts and there were perhaps a few too many Chinese gags, one in particular sailing a little close to the wind.

However, there were enough risque lines to keep the adults laughing as well as the kids.

Tonight/tomorrow, phone 01535 632289.

Stuart Roberts

Lord of the Flies -- West Yorkshire Playhouse

I couldn't wait to see a stage version of this shocking tale of a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert island whose innocent games of childhood turn into bloodthirsty real life battles.

But if you go and see this adaptation of the William Golding classic be prepared to be sat among swarms of giddy teenagers studying the text for their GCSE English exams.

Their giggling and constant chatting was really very irritating and somewhat distracting.

That aside the eight-strong cast of 20-somethings were all believable as young boys.

Hats off to Jesse Inman for his truly engaging turn as the tragic Piggy.

The production leaned more towards the dynamism of a music video in its trendy aesthetics -- featuring bursts of loud music complemented with some effective choreography.

The performance was perhaps not quite as gruesome and terrifying as it could or indeed should have been.

l Runs tonight/tomorrow.

Phone (0113) 213 7700.

Gemma Berry