They promised us a magical pantomime – and with plenty of singing, dancing, colour and downright laughter, boy has the Torch Theatre delivered this Christmas with Aladdin.

It’s a performance with something for everyone. Ample entertainment and hilarity for youngsters, and a strong story line to keep adults engaged as well.

And despite the production being based in the far east, the script brilliantly entangles Wales and Pembrokeshire into the storyline, with frequent references to back ‘home’.

The lead part of Aladdin is played by Emma Mulkern, whose facial expressions are worth the admission fee alone, while James Thomas is the customary bad guy.

His character, Abanazer, gets the children hissing and booing while PC Ping, played by Niall Quinn, has the audience doubled over by performing the ‘village idiot’ role to a tee.

The Genie (Lloyd Grayshon), Emperor (Dewi Rhys Williams) and Rosey Cale (Princess Samina) all give strong and comical performances, but it is Widow Twankey (Dion Davies) who really steals the show.

His copious amounts of make up, exaggerated Welsh accent, and varied of one liners (some for children, some just for the older children) make him the perfect pantomime character. He had kids standing up excitedly by merely strolling (or waddling) onto the stage.

Even for the very young, there is enough singing and audience participation to keep them occupied and my two, aged just two and four respectively, loved what they saw. Their only disappointment was having to stop watching for the interval break!

And what all the cast do very well is understand their audience. When I watched, there were a number of local schools enjoying the show all of which were mentioned in one way or another during the production. Even teachers were called out too, much to the amusement of their students.

Overall, it is everything you want from a Christmas pantomime. Light hearted, entertaining, engaging, and all complimented by accomplished acting.

If a genie gives you three wishes this Christmas, make sure you use at least one to get tickets to this brilliant family afternoon out.

Aladdin runs until December 31 at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven. See torchtheatre.co.uk