A SMALL stage in a corner of Prudhoe generated enough laughter to wake the entire town from a 100-year sleep last week.

This year’s pantomime from Dragon Tale Theatre Group was Sleeping Beauty – but there was nothing soporific about this performance.

Every member of the community theatre group shone during this year’s pantomime, which could have coaxed a smile onto even the most stony of faces.

Packed full of pacey dance routines, raucous musical numbers and perfectly-timed comedy, the audience remained captivated from beginning to end.

The pantomime followed Princess Aurora as she learned her true royal identity and tried to escape the cursed fate set for her by the dastardly fairy, Poison Ivy.

Good fairies, Rose, Violet and Daisy, were tasked with protecting the infant princess.

Played in the Thursday evening production by Molly McClen, Erin Collins and Molly Holmes respectively, the gauzy trio bounced entertainingly off one another from sweet Rose and prim and proper Violet to giggly and daft little Daisy.

To avoid the evil fairy’s curse, Aurora is sent to live in a cottage in the land of make-believe, inhabited by a veritable library of fairytale characters who waltzed off the pages in a lively song and dance number.

And proof, if it were needed, that Sleeping Beauty’s royal parents (Wendy Neal and Stephen Page), were a few sandwiches short of a picnic, she is left in the ‘care’ of court jester Sniffles and Nurse Pennycillin.

Inhabiting the role of the pneumatic and romantically ferocious nurse, with a series of flammable wigs and a great deal of decolletage rearranging, was Anthony Johnson.

And the yin to Anthony’s yang was most definitely Neil Wilkin who, as Sniffles, could reduce the audience to tears with a perfectly-timed glance.

The duo were matched perfectly, throwing in as many double entendres as they could get away with and livening up the stage whenever they took to it.

But impressive pint-sized performer Imogen Thorndycraft-Park was more than their match, ordering them around her kitchen with Napoleonic fits of Gallic wrath in her role as palace chef.

Just before her 18th birthday, Princess Aurora is finally tracked down by the boo-hiss worthy baddie Poison Ivy, with the help of hench-women Duck and Dive (and Google maps).

Vicki Wilkin was the perfect wicked fairy, with a cackle that could cut glass and a fit of temper that had smaller (and larger) members of the audience concerned for their well-being.

Her rendition of I Put a Spell on You was masterful and captured the audience’s attention with its cinematic quality.

With an array of bewildered facial expressions and impressive physical comedy, Fiona Henderson and Ashley Joscelyne formed another note-worthy double act as the dumb and marginally dumber Dive and Duck.

As the title suggests, Sleeping Beauty is eventually tricked into waking the curse which sends the entire kingdom into a century-long snooze.

Playing the title role, Samantha Macbeth gave off Disney levels of doe-eyed sparkle.

But bringing the house down with her solo, Journey to the Past, she proved that behind the sweetly innocent smile was a big voice.

As her swain, Prince Rupert was Ben Orrock who lent the role just a touch of the Tim Nice But Dims as he embarked on his mission to save a girl he had met in his dreams.

Choreographed by Wendy and Abi Neale and accompanied by an accomplished live band, the song and dance numbers were high-octane, colourful affairs which gave each cast member the chance to show off their star quality.

High-quality costumes, effective make-up and impressive lighting and sets gave the production a polished feel.

This year’s Dragon Tale offering was a joy to watch, not just because of the high standard of performance, but also the visible camaraderie between members of the company.

Each and every cast member was enjoying every minute of the production, and that feeling was echoed by the audience.

This year’s production raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Parkinson UK, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Active Persons Group and Dragon Tale Theatre Group.