MEMBERS of the Wallingford-based Sinodun Players are celebrating after winning this year’s Oxfordshire Drama Network’s competition for the best amateur pantomime.

The drama group took the accolade for their show Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates staged at Wallingford’s Corn Exchange theatre. Its members were presented with the network’s Pantomime Shield.

The number of entries for the contest was down this year due to some local societies deciding to put on comedies or dramas instead of traditional pantomimes.

However that did not impact on the quality of productions in the contest’s 19th year, as Deidre Jones, of the drama network, pointed out, saying: “Our judges have all agreed that this year we have seen a particularly high standard of entertainment.”

The judges awarded second place to Faringdon Dramatic Society for their spoof show The Scarlet Pumpernickel, following on from their top spot last year for Jack and the Beanstalk. New ODN members West Oxford Pantomime Association took third place for their production, Beauty and the Beast.

Deidre added: “The competition was started as a fun way of raising production standards of the Societies in the ODN. It would be interesting to compare the earlier pantomimes with today’s more sophisticated productions.” The ODN judges use a marking system devised by the national Guild of Drama Adjudicators, awarding points for costume, scenery, special effects, chorus work, choreography as well as the acting and singing.

All the entrants in the contest receive a certificate and a report with constructive criticism from the judges.