Poor Delphonse (Rod Dundee). His dodgy dealing has caused his family to fall on hard times in the village of Sur-Les-Acteurs in the heart of France. How can he provide for Annalise (Daisy Beresford), Colette (Grace Marshall) and the bookish Belle (Anna Stevenson), his lovely daughters? Monsieur Boris (John Lamoon), the village mayor, is convinced there is a fearsome beast living deep in the forest that is affecting trade, so he hires a pair of bounty hunters, Bidet and Cliché (Alex Turpin & Sam Fretwell), to track it down and kill it.
In the forest the beast lives in a castle with his faithful servants – Cogsworth (Richard Fenwick), Lumière (Maria Marshall), Babette (Becky Amos), Mrs Potts (Andrew Jordan) and Chip (Jamie Tipple) who have to put up with his bad temper and even worse table manners. Is he really fearsome or just misunderstood? Trapped in a hairy beast's body, only true love can release him from the curse. How will he find someone to love him before the petals fall from the magical rose? Who could possibly love someone so hideous and bad mannered anyway?

It seems hopeless until one day, receiving news that his ship has finally arrived at port, Delphonse embarks on a dangerous trip through the forest with his faithful old horse Trigger (Val Smith & Jamie Foster) and stumbles across the castle, unleashing a chain of events  . . .

Don't miss this year's Over Players panto – a reworking of this magical classic fairy tale which features singing and dancing plates and cutlery as well as talking trees, custard pies and a cast of nearly 40!