Gala Theatre's Beauty and the Beast gets panto season under way with style and fun

As we take our seats amongst hordes of excited families, we are welcomed to Chester-le-Rue as the show opens and we meet the cheery inhabitants of the French town where we find Belle running a book stall.

French translations of place names continues with mention of nearby Dur-jambon - get it? There's even a Chateau de Pitie pour Moi, or Pity Me Castle, where the cursed Beast lives.

And corny jokes continue throughout this madcap panto take on the familiar fairytale favourite which during the following two hours or so has everyone willing a no-nonsense Belle, played by Beth Crame, on her way to breaking that spell and freeing the prince. This year's festive treat at the theatre, again written by Gary Kitching, brings back some familiar faces, with well-known local actress Zoe Lambert, an evil witch from a previous year's Sleeping Beauty, in a Dame role this year as Madame Perplexe - an inventor who's more of a scatty aunt - and Jude Nelson.

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Jude, who has become a panto regular and children's favourite, here plays everybody's pal Jongleur, a wandering 'bard' who might not be so good with musical instruments but does, finally, get to display some juggling skills. Everybody's pal that is except the baddie Gourmand, played by a very funny Kieron Michael who made me laugh a lot with his heavy-handed attempts to woo Belle.

There's nothing scary for young ones in this villain who, despite the fact we hear he loves to eat forest creatures, is more a clumsy oaf and figure of fun. It's such a good-hearted show that it is impossible not to be cheered by it and and everybody in the audience was soon on board.

Helping to keep its momentum going is a six-strong ensemble cast who bring an extra energy and pizzazz to song and dance numbers. And there's a real mix of music, played by a live band, with songs ranging from Oasis to a version of Here Comes The Sun to introduce Gourmand. There's a singalong Frère Jacques for us all to join too.

I liked the staging, especially the set of the chateau where we meet Monsieur Brilliant and Madame Horloge, servants transformed by the spell into a candelabra and a clock. And these two turn out to be my absolute favourite characters, with their authentic French accents and desperate attempts to spark romantic interest between Beauty and Suryan Hadrick's Beast, who finally bond over a love of reading.

Adam Donaldson's Monsieur Brilliant, with his wavering lamp lights, is such fun and Sarah Bulmer as the clock delivers some hilarious guttural lines - alongside erratic chimes. They are a great double-act.

I also really liked a forest creature scene, with its animal costumes including birds and a squirrel, while if you like sparkle and glitter - and I very much do - there are some lovely glitzy dance outfits too. I did miss the panto Dame role but this new production has other traditional elements including a take on the always-popular kitchen scene, with the slapstick mess coming here in a decorating session for Beauty's bookshop, which was not as slick as it could be but no doubt that will develop over the run.

The annual Gala panto, which is always one of the earliest to get under way in the region, has a home-spun feel about it and that's a compliment. It's full of fun, colour and humour - corny though it is - and well performed throughout. If you're the mood for some festive cheer, you'll find it here. The show runs until December 31: for tickets, from £10, see here.