IT’S panto season once again and Tredegar Thespians are on top form with this fun-packed version of the Pied Piper.

Directed by Lorna Griffiths and Karen Livingstone, it’s non-stop action from start to finish with lots of enthusiasm from a mostly young cast.

There are many impressive performances, especially from Cathryn Clarke, as the reluctant rat-catching feline Bruiser and her master Roland, played by Gareth Evans, while his love interest Lois Ryan as Lydia has a lovely singing voice.

Jim Meyrick and Les Jones keep everyone entertained with their repartee, stream of banter and lots of audience participation between scenes, with both children and adults loving their silly antics. The rats, played by Karen Livingstone, Ryan Lewis and Vicky O’Leary, are consistently good and Alun Collins is very funny as the panto dame Betty.

In a class of his own as a very imaginative Pied Piper is Kai Stroud, who is really popular with the crowd, as he first charms the rats out of Hamlyn – and then the children as the townspeople refuse to pay up for his services.

The music that accompanies his appearances is haunting and well-chosen and his rhymes and facial expressions make this an inspired and occasionally creepy performance – my young daughter thought he might be a vampire!

It’s a small stage to accommodate such a large panto cast, but they manage the switches between rats’ lair, the town square and mayor’s parlour as well as can be expected and the costumes and dancing are all of a high standard.