I took my kids to the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch last night to watch my first panto in many years – Sleeping Beauty.

click here to listen to my review:

The show tells the story of beautiful Princess Aurora and handsome Tom Clutterbuck – young and in love but constantly thwarted by the over-protective King Ethelbert! But you can understand why Aurora’s dad is so worried about his daughter since Fairy Carabosse put an evil spell on her which has led the princess to sleep for a hundred years. Can our hero Tom break the spell and awaken Aurora?

As a responsible adult the level of silliness was right up my street. Great acting, superb sets, a fun script in the tradition of the great British pantomime and a brilliant cast who were clearly loving the limelight – what more could you want?

My kids were very cool about the whole thing, initially saying it was “good”, but they’ve opened up a bit more today and said that the show was “very enjoyable” and “sick” (which is good) and they’ve been walking around the house all day saying “Ayup Silly Billy!” so I think it had a lasting effect on them.

Sleeping Beauty is on now until 10 January. You can book tickets here, but hurry, they’re going fast!