There was plenty of panto pandemonium at the Pater Hall, Pembroke Dock, last week, as the Pater Panto Society staged its 31st highly successful annual production.

Some years ago the society opted for an all youth cast for their yearly outing, but watching their highly polished production of Dick Whittington, no-one would ever guess that not one of the performers was over the age of 21, and for many it was their first time on the stage.

Director Steve Butler elicited strong and mature performances from his young ensemble for this refreshing tale of the famous Lord Mayor of London, while packing the production full of all the usual panto paraphernalia, including slapstick humour, corny gags, foot-tapping, hand-clapping songs, colourful costumes, and bags of audience participation.

The tale is familiar enough, young Dick Whittington (a spirited Sara Morgan shining in her first leading role with the society) packs his bags and heads for the bright lights of London, where he believes all the streets are paved with gold.

Along the way he picks up a cat, Tommy (Lorna Weatherall) - which is just as well because the capital's streets are not, as it turns out, paved with gold, but hordes of rats.

The rat plague is all part of a dastardly plan by their king (the excellently hissable villain James James) to enthrone himself as Lord Mayor of the city, although Fairy Tinkle (Rebecca Pugh) has other ideas, aiming to use her magic to thwart his despicable designs.

On arriving in London, Dick gets a job working for Alderman Fitzwarren (a superb Will Ainsworth) in his shop, a task made more pleasurable by the fact that he has fallen head over heels in love with the Alderman's pretty daughter, Alice (a suitably demure yet feisty Aisling Phillips).

Also working for the Alderman are the aptly named Idle Jack (a scene stealing Marc Styles) and Sarah the Cook (the equally good Kelly Rawlings), who are hypnotised by King Rat into framing Dick for theft.

Dick runs away, but Fairy Tinkle and Tommy conspire to persuade him to return to clear his name, giving him a glimpse into his future as Lord Mayor of London.

On his return, Dick proves his innocence and finds that the Alderman, with his store overrun with rats, has decided to send Alice, Jack and Sarah overseas on the Saucy Sal, while he tries to deal with the situation.

However, King Rat conjures up a storm which wrecks the ship on the shores of a Morocco ruled over by the Sultan (Ben Thompson) and his Vizier, Werafez (Joe Murray).

The hardy quintet, accompanied by the Saucy Sal's captain and first mate Mr. Mussel (Victoria Weatherall and Danny Carroll in a perfect comedy pairing) find their lives in peril, but Tommy the Cat saves the day by defeating King Rat in a boxing match to rival the best of the Rocky films!

Given half the Sultan's fortune in gratitude, Dick returns home, saves the now destitute Alderman and fulfils his destiny by marrying Alice and becoming Lord Mayor.

With lively musical numbers directed by Rebecca Evans, the cast putting all their energy into the dance routines choreographed by Maxine Rolls and super costumes by Pat Heath - with the best as always saved for the fabulous finale - Dick Whittington was a bubbly, enthusiastic production, with the vitality of the young cast bringing a ray of sunshine to a cold winter's evening.

As with any good pantomime, it brought smiles to the faces of young and old alike amongst the packed audience and made a worthy addition to the long line of Pater successes.

Chorus members were: Emilee Beasley, Keryn Beasley, Elizabeth Collings, Lloyd Davies, Talissa Davies, Elizabeth Evans, Amy Hansen, Amy Heath, Ross John, Laura O'Mara, Ruth O'Mara, Harry Owen, Sophie Powell, Kelly Scourfield, Garth Sture, Alison Williams, Lauren Williams, Natasha Williams, Zoe Williams.

Of course, no production would be possible without all the hard work behind the scenes, with stage manager Sally James and stage crew of Steve Butler, Reg Thomas, Nicholas Roberts and Christopher Weatherall ensuring smooth and effective transition from scene to scene.

Other unsung heroes behind the scenes were: prompt - Karen Petty; ticket sales - June Williams; scenery/props - Steve Butler; front of house - members of the committee.

ANDREW DAVIES