This was my first visit to the newly refurbished Palace Theatre. What a treat it was to sit in comfortable seats with more leg room and an uninterrupted view. This society always put on a show with lots of pace, glitz and colour and this production was no exception and given that the rehearsal time was only an intensive six weeks, the cast must have worked very hard. This script by Alan Frayn was certainly fast moving and a little different from the usual Sleeping Beauty. There was plenty of opportunity for comedy which was delivered very well, especially by Fetch (Jon Harrison) and Carrie (Jo Button) and Muddles (Nicholas Henry Heath) who built up a good rapport with the audience, but the Dame, Nurse Dottie Dettol was a little over the top and at times made the audience feel quite uncomfortable. Colin and Rae Gilderthorp played the King and Queen and it was good to see them on the same side for once, bouncing their comedy lines off each other. Stephanie Clift and Dean Breyley made a handsome principal boy and girl, they both delivered strong performances with confident singing, however I feel they needed a little more romance. But the highlight of the show for me was the relationship that was built up between Good Fairy Lilac (Jessica Mason) and Bad Witch Hazel, (Francesca Floris) they both played powerful characters and Witch Hazel was one of the best witches I have ever seen in a pantomime. The band played very well, but the sound operator needed to take more care to get the balance right as the singing was often over powered. Costumes were bright and colourful, scenery well thought out and choreography was slick and very well performed. The theatre was full to capacity and gave the cast a well deserved warm ovation at the end.