Rehearsals at Keighley’s Glusburn Institute are under way for a half-term production of Dick Whittington. Bradford musician Dev Swan is directing, following his success with a youth production of Oliver! last year.

Dick Whittington runs at the Colne Road theatre from next Wednesday to Saturday, starting at 7.30pm, with a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Tickets are available from Forget Me Not, Crosshills. Taking the lead roles are Carly Upton as Dick, Natasha Bowers as the Cat and Jasmine Holland as Alice.

“Giving young people chance to take on the principal roles has been part of long tradition of pantomime at the Institute,” says Dev. “Young people are our future, and this year we’re giving the lead roles to much younger children than previously.

“There’ll be exciting colourful aerial sequences performed by the Glusburn Flying Ballet and girl band The Bow Bells. We have two dames, played by Philip Gamble and Iain Barwick, making the panto twice as much fun.”

Tamsin Headey, Glusburn Institute’s development officer adds: “We couldn’t put on these shows without the children and their families. Their support is superb. Putting on the pantomime requires considerable dedication and reflects the spirit of the community.”