The Lion, Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man set off on the Yellow Brick Road.

There has been plenty of fun and laughter going on at The Arc in Caterham-on-the-Hill this Christmas, with hundreds of people being entertained by their production of The Wizard of Oz.

The show has a large cast of excellent adult and child actors, some of them undertaking several costume changes for different roles throughout the show. A lot of imagination and creativity has gone into portraying the story, for example the twister early on in the show that whisks Dorothy off to the land of Oz uses great sound effects for added drama.

Lucy Devenport playing Dorothy has a beautiful voice and performs the songs written by Christopher Chambers with real emotion. Some of the songs in the show were very lively, especially 'She Down' sung by Munchkins celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch!

Dorothy seeks advice from Grizelda, the Witch of the West.

The two crows made everyone giggle in the first half, taunting the poor old scarecrow played by John Soffe. The hilarious scarecrow is despairing of not being able to remember the punchlines to any of his jokes because he has no brain, and joins Dorothy on the journey to Oz. They are soon joined by the creaky Tin Man who needs a heart, played by Gareth Parish, and the timid lion, in search of courage, played by Sergio Taddia. The four make a great team whose singing, dancing and general antics, supported by a superb cast, makes this new version of a classic story a real festive treat.

Emma Wade, one of the young actors who portrayed several different roles throughout the show, is especially entertaining as Sharma the Monkey King and has a great singing voice.

In addition to the talented actors, there is a large team of people working behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly, not forgetting the brilliant costume designers for their expertise in creating some stunning outfits.

The show is a joint venture between The Arc and Another Way Theatre Company, written and directed by Beth Wood with music by Christopher Chambers and choreography by Susy Payne. Between them Beth, Christopher and Susy have created an entertaining show that appeals to an audience of all ages. The show is on until this Sunday, 5th January so call The Arc on 01883 330380 to book tickets before the season ends.