Readers Recommend: Five of the best pantos to see in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Jack and the Beanstalk appears to be the most popular pantomime this year with no less than three productions in and around the Capital.

But if you just can’t get enough of the traditional festive family cheer, here are five of the best pantos around to see.

Edinburgh - Beauty and the Beast - Kings Theatre

Beauty and the Beast has made a triumphant return to The King’s panto repertoire with this fast-paced, laugh a minute retelling of the tale as old as time.

Played out on one of the most magical sets to grace the Leven Street stage for some time, the story of the beautiful Belle and the vain Prince Calum unfolds.

In this telling of the tale, the selfish Prince is discourteous to a poor old beggar woman who reveals herself to be an enchantress, transforming him into a beast. His only hope of returning to normal being if he can find someone to love him before the last petal falls from a mysterious red rose.

The show is running until January 20th.

Edinburgh - Wendy and Peter Pan - Lyceum

Head to the Lyceum this Christmas to experience one of the world’s best loved stories about the boy who never grows up from Scottish writer J.M. Barrie.

Follow the fearless Wendy as she flies with Peter to Neverland - a world of dastardly pirates, feisty fairies and raucous lost boys.

This adaptation has all the magic and wonder of the original, as they fly to Neverland and find all is not well in the kingdom of the Lost Boys with the villainous Captain Hook wreaking havoc.

Full of fairy-dust, adventure and all your favourite characters this magical story is everything a Christmas treat should be.

The pantomime is running until January 5th.

Edinburgh - Little Red Riding Hood - Churchill theatre

Adapted from the Clarke and Howarth original, this traditional family pantomime will be sure to please.

Haggy, the wicked witch, sets out to change the “happily ever after” ending to all fairy tales - starting with Little Red Riding Hood.

The rest of the villagers are looking forward to their Midsummer Festival but can they first thwart evil Haggy’s plans? Does Red Riding Hood’s uncle, the Squire, have a few plans of his own? And what have pirates to do with it all? Come along and join in the mirth and mayhem in this traditional family panto with just a little twist in its tail.

The show is running up to December 21st.

Musselburgh - Jack and The Beanstalk - Brunton theatre

THE Beanstalk is there, the magic beans too as is the nasty rent-collector, however, in this panto retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk there’s little else recognisable from the traditional tale.

When local dairy owner Mither Mandy Moo Moo can’t pay her rent due to an over-indulgent lifestyle, the rent collector confiscates her pasture, the secret to Daisy’s in-demand milk and dairy products, leaving Mither Mandy and her kids Jack and Jilly broke.

To raise the money she needs, Mither Mandy finds herself taking part in an episode of TV talent show The Voice and then an edition of The Great Brunton Bake-Off, but will it be enough to save Daisy the family coo?

The pantomime ends on January 5th.

Musselburgh - Once Upon a Christmas Show - Brunton theatre

The show, presented by Funbox, runs from December 21st to Christmas Eve.

All your favourite fairytales are going wrong and it’s up to the gang to make sure everyone lives happily ever after and along the way they’ll see some familiar fairytale faces.

Packed with singalong favourites like ‘Old King Cole’ and ‘Ye Canny Shove Yer Granny Aff A Bus’, to festive classics like ‘Jingle Bells’ and brand new songs, Once Upon A Christmas is the perfect seasonal treat for all the family. You might even get to help on stage and who knows, you may see the big man in the red suit himself, so make sure you are in the good books

Come dressed for some fairytale festive fun, perhaps as your favourite storybook character - and bring a Santa hat.

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