From a brief mention in an ancient manuscript called The Annals of Wales, a rich tapestry of stories has grown up around Arthur, the Once and Future King of Britain and his noble Knights of the Round Table. They are peopled by a wealth of colourful characters who lend themselves well to the traditions of pantomime, where, as in the best legends, good triumphs and evil gets its just desserts.

In this contribution to the Arthurian tradition a cast of seventeen is headed by King Arthur himself, played here as a benevolent father figure. The dame is Guinevere, his queen – a bit old and raddled these days, but she still has her champions, Sir Lancelot and Sir Prancelot, to joust in her honour. This calls for a lot of prancing about on horses – the sort with a cardboard head and heraldic skirts flowing down past their knees!

Principal boy Gawain’s main ambition in life, of course, is to become one of Arthur’s knights, an ambition that becomes more pressing when he falls head over heels in love with the Lady Rowena.

Merlin is another who is, sadly, past his peak and he’s forever muddling his spells up – good job he has his apprentice, Nimue, to keep him right for his great adversary, Morgan le Fay, is on the loose, and oozing evil. Morgan’s champion is the Green Knight, whose repulsive sidekicks Fungus and Fester, like Rowena’s maids of honour and the Unicorn, a diminutive creature who provides the “aah” factor, can be doubled up by members of the chorus if need be.

Polly Robinson is an anachronism. A PR person sucked back in time, she finds plenty to turn her hand to in Camelot – though even she is stumped when it comes to a PR job on Jingles, the most depressed and depressing court jester of all time. Order a reading copy

Such a story and setting as this offers ample opportunity for a feast of magic and mystery, and from its opening scene on the Green outside Camelot, King Arthur – the Panto takes the audience on a mystical quest, via the castle’s tiltyard where the Green Knight throws down his challenge, through the Magical Land of Storytime to the Enchanted Forest, scene of the hunt for that most elusive of creatures, the little lost unicorn, and setting for dastardly deeds offset by gallantry galore.  

After rescuing Merlin from the Cave of Crystal, a front of tabs scene with the added option of an inset, it’s on to the Green Knight’s Castle and thence, with a transformation scene, to the ethereal Temple of the Lady of the Lake where Morgan and her minion finally get their come-uppance.

The usual walkdown trappings can be enhanced with a copy of the famous Winchester Round Table to provide Arthur’s castle with a fitting Great Hall for the finale.

An ultra-violet light sequence will always draw the oohs and aahs from the audience and the story of how the unicorn was left behind when Noah’s ark set sail is ideally suited to this medium – alternatively the tale can be told through puppetry.

And The Enchanted Forest is the perfect setting for a “Tree of Truth” routine where anyone telling a lie gets caught out by the falling apples and as Lance and Prance find out, flattery does not necessarily get you everywhere! Top

No show about King Arthur could be complete without the wonderful title song from Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot, while equally at home here is a rendition of Monty Python’s Knights of the Round Table. The Ascot Gavotte from My Fair Lady adapts very easily to become The Joust at Camelot, while other suggestions for musical numbers include You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, Bad Guys,I Write the Songs, One and Matchmaker.There’s the charming song, The Unicorn, of course, while the transformation scene with its procession of the Lady of the Lake’s priestesses, calls for an unworldly piece of music – something like Gabriel’s Oboe from Ennio Morricone’s score for The Mission is ideal. Top