LAUNTON Players are set to bring some fun to February half-term with their latest pantomime Cinderella.

Cinderella is the Players’ 30th and biggest pantomime to date – the first was staged in 1986.

Each year an original script is penned based on a traditional story.

Director Martin Evans has written 21 of them – including this year’s offering.

Tickets have gone on sale for the show at Cooper School’s performance hall, off Churchill Road, Bicester.

Performances runs twice daily at 2.30pm and 7.30pm from Thursday, February 18, to Saturday the 19.

Producer Celia Evans, who has appeared in all 30 shows, urged people to buy their tickets before performances sell out.

Mrs Evans said: “This year we decided to go for the classic Panto story - Cinderella.

“It’s the third time we have put this on. The previous times were in 1988 and 2000, and we have a brand new script to work with.”

And with a cast of 54 and a band made up of five musicians there’s a lot of work to be done before opening night.

Cinderella is loosely based on the fairytale and has all the traditional characters including the two ugly sisters, Fairy Godmother, Buttons and Prince Charming.

But there are a few not so traditional parts including the Broker’s Men - Miss Heave and Mr Ho, and Crazy Cutters mobile hairdressers Julian and Sandy and their apprentices Dipsy and LaLa.

Proceeds from the shows are shared between local, national and international charities and in the past three decades the Players have raised about £75,000.

Among the organisations who have benefited are local primary schools, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Book Aid International, in Africa, and also to a health charity in Africa.

Tickets for Cinderella, at Cooper School’s performance hall, cost £5 for children and £9 for adults and are available from Box Offices at the Bicester’s Oxfam Shop, in Sheep Street, and Launton Post Office, Bicester Road.