In the few years Dustin has been doing the panto with Twink, he's called her far worse (and funnier) things than "Barbie's Granny". Nonetheless, Samantha Mumba and her slur are duly despatched in the course of this vigorous show.
Twink (Adele King) gives herself a "Created by . . ." credit for this show, which seems a bit rich for another Cinderella. She and director Brian Merriman have actually revisited old-time panto values more traditionally than in recent years - e.g. more Ugly Sisters comedy, fewer boy-band interludes - and the result is a show that's more coherent, though notably less raucous. Even Dustin, occasionally hilarious, is quieter than befits a turkey celebrating the safe passage of another Christmas.
Cinderella is played by pretty Rachel Barror (15), who treads the fine line between ingenue and insipid. She can definitely sing, however, and her lightness is set off perfectly by Ugly Sisters of substance: Myles Breen and Gary Finegan are wonderfully horrible, and each of their many costumes resembles a garish sitting-room suite (kudos to designer Maria Blaney).
Overall, it's good stuff, with Twink as masterful of the audience as ever and showing admirable devotion to the power of stagecraft: one set-change interlude is disguised by a genuinely creative and magical darkness-and-light show from "the wizard", Mark Oberon, who wordlessly makes various strange creatures and objects appear and disappear - and even explodes his own face. Let's see Samantha Mumba do that.