We went along to last Saturday's matinee performance (a full house, by the way) and from the moment the curtain rose on a brooding Queen Andromeda (played powerfully by Cadi Fowler) and David Armitage's sinister Mirror (an ingenious device, the workings of which we won't reveal!) the audience needed no encouragement to hiss and boo with gusto.

The evil Queen's 'sprites', beautifully choreographed by Fay Blower and Donna Barker, sparkled superbly, adding to the scary atmosphere, then, in typical Theatre Group tradition, the mood shifted as an enthusiastic chorus of youngsters burst onto the scene in a riot of colour singing and dancing to 'Cotton Eye Joe'.

The party had begun!

Directed by Michael and Christine Goodwin, this production has lots of laughs.

Comic duo Nurse Steph O'Scope (Will Bisby, a natural here as the Dame) and Willy Wurzel (John Watson) got plenty of response from the audience, as did the bumbling Wart and Blister, played ably by Justin Middleton and Chris Walker, their hilarious 'fish dance' being much appreciated.

Young lovebirds Mike and Molly (Michael Cutts and Tabi Raynor) were a breath of fresh air, rushing about trying their level best to look after Snow White.

Following another time-honoured tradition, the 'handy log' where Steph, Willy, Mike and Molly rested their weary limbs provided us with much merriment and a great deal of audience participation of the "It's behind you!" kind as in turn they were scared away by…oh yes it was!…Sopwith! Penistone's very own pantomime camel!

And let's not forget the seven "We're just vertically challenged!" little men, whose zany antics made us roar with laughter - strong singing of 'Shine', too, from the dwarfs, led by Chris Ashton's 'Bossy' (of course!).

Full marks go to Eleanor Metcalfe (Prince) and Ruby Cuthbert (Snow White) who really do charm their audience.

Their duet 'You Are the Music in Me' from High School Musical was a delight, and nicely topical for the younger end.

In fact, isn't the Theatre Group fortunate to have so many young people eager to be involved in acting, singing, dancing and working behind the scenes in its productions? The junior chorus must have been rehearsing for ages to perfect their contributions. What a wealth of local talent there is…and what a lot of hard work must go on behind the scenes to make it all possible.

But where to start! Well, the costumes (by Yvonne Gaines, Louise Godley and Maggie Bevis) were simply superb and the sound and light effects created by Phil Vickers and David Senior were stunning. The sets were magnificent (all praise to the set builders - we believe a couple of Barnsley College's finest scenic artists also had a hand in painting them!) and the stage crew, led by Mick Kirkham, managed the scene changes seamlessly.

We particularly loved a forest scene near the end when all the characters and woodland animals gathered round the lifeless Snow White. The costumes were exquisite, the lighting was brilliant, the dancers delightful and the lovely Kate Rusby music just right. A truly magical moment.

Thank you Penistone Theatre Group for giving us such a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. We can't wait for next year's panto!