OVINGHAM Drama Group’s pantomime has been postponed until February 2017, so instead, Jim Wardle produced ‘A Christmas Cracker’ which provided an evening of mixed Christmas entertainment. We were there on Friday night and joined a small but very enthusiastic audience. A little nervousness was apparent at the beginning when we were encouraged to join in with the Christmas songs, but everyone soon forgot their inhibitions and joined in with gusto.

The Christmas cracker jokes were as terrible as usual, but I didn’t hear anyone with an answer to them and we all laughed as we groaned.

Letters from Emily (12 days of Christmas) presented by Lorraine White was as funny as ever and Becca Irving’s rendition of I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas took everyone by surprise more so as the Hippopotamus (T.T. Arvind) complete with pink tutu, arrived on the stage to help out. Tony Overton brought the audience to a hush with his expressive telling of Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

Richard Heslop’s reading of The Night before Christmas was delivered with expression and audience eye contact. Then Alan Littlechild regaled us with some of Bernard Mile’s monologues and had the audience in stitches, especially with tales of his wheelbarrow.

Bill Clegg told us the tale of Spinderella (a spoonerism) and had the audience in hysterics; how he kept a straight face I will never know.

Malcolm Lowerson showed us he is not always the pantomime ‘baddie’ while strutting his stuff with Alan and singing Bring me Sunshine. We were all hushed while we listened to Rosemary Cook, Liz Lake and Brenda Parker giving us T.S. Eliot’s The Journey of the Magi.

Teresa Baird gave us A Tragedy of the Far East and Ian Dixon and Bill gave everyone a fright with their rendition of The Green Eye of the Little God. Two sets of arms was totally unexpected. Sue Douglas made a wonderful Joyce Grenfell telling us the tale of the Nursery School Nativity Play.

As those of you who are familiar with Ovingham Drama Group you will be aware that Jeanette Hunter, a member for 30 years died this year. This is the first performance without her and a very moving song for Jeanette, Adele’s Make you feel my love, was sung by Becca and the cast with photographs of Jeanette from all the performances she had been in over the years shown on the screen behind. It was beautifully done and very moving.

The acts were interspersed with various Christmas medleys including Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Oh, Come All Ye Faithful.

To all of you who may have missed the performance all I can say is what a cracker!

Sylvia Heslop