HOW do they do it? After last year's pantomime scooped awards here, there and everywhere, The Wayfarers have pulled out all the stops again with this year's brilliant offering, now showing at the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton.

From individual performances to production excellence, 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp' simply sparkles from beginning to end.

I admired the theatrical skills, the brilliant backdrops, the faultless performances, the lighting, the singing, the dancing et al.

But none of these finer points really bothered my eight-year-old son. After being brought up on Disney's animated feature, he wasn't sure about going out with Dad on a foggy night to the theatre.

But he did. And he laughed. And he sang. And he booed and he hissed. And he also got himself a balloon and a packet of cheesy puffs.

Forget theatrical skills, dramatic interpretation and all that nonsense. For him, the show passed his own acid test.

He particularly liked Aladdin's brother, Wishee-Washee, brilliantly played by Stuart Lyddon. This guy is excellent. He gave the plum role every ounce of energy he had and both he, and the admirable Nigel Ford, as Widow Twankey, had the audience in stitches.

Of the other principals I particularly liked the nice thigh-slapping Aladdin (Elisabeth Sandy), So-Shi (Tessa Evans) and Martin Healey-Carpenter, who produced a brilliant baddie in Abanazar.

But what shines through the whole of this production is sheer confidence.

The production names listed in the programme reads like a Hollywood movie credits roll -- so it's thanks to veteran director Brian Buttle for pulling all the threads together and producing what must turn out to be another award-winner.

Being sent to review the show, I tried hard to come up with something critical to say. So I seized on a reference to Jackie Ballard who finished being Taunton's MP last May. But my thoughts were interrupted when my lad said: "Can we see it again next week?" Who needs critics?