Review | Sleeping Beauty at New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth: 'A show which won't leave you napping'

The show is created by pantomime specialists Jordan Productions and moves at a brisk clip – it certainly doesn’t feel two-and-a-half-hours.

The plot now features time travel for reasons which don’t make a great deal of sense of you think too hard about it. But let’s face it, panto plots are largely placeholders for the gags and routines, and so it is the case here. That said, the script feels fresh – the rhyming couplets from Ella Rose Thomas as Fairy Fortywinks fly as they should, and the cast are uniformly excellent.

Kevin James as Chester the Jester and Michael Neilson in the dame role of Nurse Nellie are a riot – a perfectly silly double act who pack in the jokes and physical humour. The dream sequence which opens the second act is a particular stand-out. And the sheer number of costume changes Neilson gets through for his increasingly outrageous outfits is quite something.

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While they do their best to steal every scene they’re in, they have a rival for that honour in Carli Norris’s evil fairy Carabosse. Norris makes a brilliant baddy – she just laps up those boos and is having a whale of a time while doing so. She played the same role for Jordan last year in Eastbourne and is clearly well at home in the role.

In panto the romantic leads can often be the least interesting things on stage. However, Amy Everett’s Princess Aurora and Ashley Emerson as Prince Valiant make a handsome pair, and acquit themselves well – both have superlative singing voices and have chemistry when they appear together.

The ensemble are given some lively choreography, and the youngsters from Waterlooville’s Classique School of Dance do well too.

The climactic fight between Valiant and his foe involves some nifty effects which may scare the very youngest children, but rest assured, it is soon vanquished.

With various other shows in town competing for your money this Christmas, this should be a front-runner. As the good fairy might have it: you won’t want to be caught sleeping on this one, go buy your tickets and have lots of fun.

Until December 31. Go to newtheatreroyal.com.