STEVENTON must be a very special community when one considers that over sixty (approximately a quarter) of their residents were involved in the village pantomime Dick Whittington.

Written by Susie Dalton, Jeff Dodgson and Charlie Palmer, there was humour in Dick Whittington from beginning to end.

Full marks must be awarded to the props and scenery department (Rachel Cheesman, Tim Sennitt, Carol Silver and John Smith) for helping to create a convincing atmosphere through each of the scenes.

The diminutive proportions of Steventon Village Hall never seemed to be a constraint, largely thanks to the choreography of Sue Brindsley and Romy Dodgson who managed to get their dancers moving with great style instead of looking like dodgem cars at the fairground. The chorus work was also good, with the excellent opening London street seller sequence providing a very enjoyable start to the evening.

I thought the Cats and the Rat" made a splendid contribution throughout, led by Tom Cat Lisa Atkinson and King Rat Philip Sykes, with the rats creating a particularly sinister atmosphere in their black punk outfits - they were clearly not going to be a walkover at the paws of this load of tabbies!

With the based around Dick Whittington (Graham Hazell) and his election as the Mayor of London there was plenty of opportunity to enjoy many a joke at the expense of bankers, politicians and political correctness - and deservedly so!

But Dick had to overcome some very stiff competition from two amazing lookalikes in Boris (Louis Hazell) and his predecessor Ken (Tony Fabian) before winning that coveted chain of office. They relished their roles and would find no problem earning a living as doubles.

So much of the success of any pantomime lies with the personality of the dame. Here, Madame Cholet (Charlie Palmer) was great fun throughout, splendidly assisted by Susie Dalton (Sous Chef Susie) and Dorothy Smith (Idle Jack).

Even more humour was injected when a troupe of large (male!) harem dancers took to the stage to display their fine choreographic skills, removing their veils as they went. Luckily (for us) they only removed three - seven would have been just too much for our delicate dispositions!

How many pantos can call upon the services of a band of twelve ukuleles? This delightful innovation was much enjoyed by the audience who willingly sang along to this very special experience.

From start to finish we were treated to all the traditions with Dick finally getting his bride (Georgie Balmain) and thankfully being in a position to overlook the amorous attentions of Princess Raisin (Rachel Palmer).

Director Marilyn Wright is to be congratulated on managing a large cast with such a commendable age spread, all of whom contributed with great enthusiasm. With the music in the very capable hands of her husband Paul, and a talented backstage team, they had every right to take a well-deserved bow for providing us with a most enjoyable evening.

Dai Ogborn