Sophie Macredie gave us the perfect Alice with Krystal McClure as her sister "knitting" the story together.
The energy of this production came from three sources: firstly, the outstanding singing and dancing by the ensemble, well looked after by choral mistress Chelsea Savaiinaea; secondly, by Oliva McKnight's outstanding portrayal of the White Rabbit and thirdly, Cathy Hosken's version of Carroll's timeless character the Queen of Hearts.
It will take more than a jelly baby to reduce the fear I felt when she advanced down into the audience, looking for victims to remove their heads.
As with all good pantomimes, there was some serious interaction with the players, with sweets being handed out as rewards, but a definite favourite was Molly Cardwell-Dray as the Ghost, who gave us the opportunity to scream the immortal line "look behind you".
We all knew what we wanted in the second half: the famous tea party with the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the March Hare, played respectively with passion, and indeed some measured slapstick, by Kaitlin Vidulich, Niva-Jean Savaiinaea and Mackensie Smith.
Kasey Smith, as the Duchess, gave a nice familiar feeling as the characters we love made their appearances.
The Cheshire Cat, portrayed by Mandy Smith, sang, danced and interacted into our hearts, helped by some clever make-up, and aided by an imaginative costume.
The costumes were, on the whole, a feature of this production. This was clearly shown when Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee arrived on stage. Anton Hosken and Hayley Alexander gave a performance that fitted their characters.
School halls are notoriously hard on production teams. This one, to its credit, did a great job with the lighting and the sound. Certainly amplified voices made it easier for young performers to project to the back of the hall.
Live music is always a show favourite, with musical director Jennifer Martin taking the lead, well assisted by Leon Speakman on bass and Maurice Bartlett percussion - or should that be some clever sound effects.
The Napier Frivolity Minstrels always strive for high stage standards and this show is no exception.
Excellent school holiday entertainment - and I look forward to next year's production.
