The pantomime villain is often one of the best roles in the show. Here's what I think makes a brilliant baddie.

She wears a frock the size of a small marquee and steals every scene she is in. Here are my tips on how to get your Dame right.

A salon, a tower, a witch with a potion habit, and a pet rabbit who grows to human size in Act One and never stops talking afterwards.

Our Little Mermaid takes the classic story and adds on a sea-witch, a Dame with a passion for singing, and a very pompous Lobster.

Every pantomime uses the same handful of character types, and each one has a specific job to do in the story and in the room. Here is a proper look at all of them.

The Sherwood Forest Girl Guides are the reason Robin gets out of the dungeon. The Sheriff's mum turns up mid-plot with sandwiches, crusts removed.

Volunteered to direct your first pantomime and not entirely sure where to start? This guide covers everything from getting started to opening night.

A bakery-owning Dame, a witch who names her crimes after recipes, and a henchman who eventually decides to go straight. And vegan.

Our Pinocchio has a Dame who's a carpenter with a Lumber-ghini joke, a villain who's the good fairy's brother, and a climactic scene set inside a whale.

Practical guide to pantomime set design and costumes for amateur theatre. You don't need a big budget, you need the right choices at the right moments.

Songs can make or break a panto. Here's my thinking on how to pick the right numbers, and how to get the most from my Panto Song Suggestions page.

A pet rabbit grows to human size and starts talking, and the script treats this as the most reasonable thing that has happened all afternoon.

A well-timed sound effect is the difference between a killer laugh and a scene stopped stone dead. Here are my top tips on SFX.

A pantomime audience will boo, cheer and shout back at you whether you have planned for it or not. Here is how to work with them rather than against them.

Our Jack and the Beanstalk has a cow with strong opinions about milking stools, a Giant Tax collected by the giant's mum, and a beanstalk that actually grows.

Our Beauty and the Beast has a wicked witch who won’t take no for an answer, a castle full of talking furniture, and a clock permanently stuck at five twenty-three.

You've got a finite number of rehearsals, and they'll go one of two ways. Here's what I've learned about rehearsing pantomime properly.

Our Goldilocks is set inside a circus, features a custard pie machine called the Pie-O-Matic 6000, and has a villain who steals a lollipop from Baby Bear.

These panto scripts sit in our Medium Cast range and have been written with 10 to 13 principal roles.

Our Cinderella has two Ugly Sisters, two bailiffs and two Fairy Godmothers. An exciting retelling of a perennial panto classic.