I was an amateur actor myself for a good few years so I know the reason that many non-profesional performances avoid December & January are so they are not taking place when there are a lot of other demands on family budgets.
At a level I think Village Panto is the best type because the absence of star names means there is no requirement to shoehorn an opportunity for the star to do whatever it is they are renowned for into the narrative.
That having been said for the second consecutive year we have seen a genuinely brilliant professional Panto at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
These have starred local lass Jill Halfpenny who is a young woman with a seemingly natural aptitude for Panto & the performers who work under the name of Circus Hilarious.
They are currently touring in their own right & are well worth seeing.
All my life I have hated physical comedy but I love it when these guys do it.
This and the fact that they revive traditional Pantomime routines rather than depending for their humour on contrived references to currently fashionable T.V. programmes.
Look out for them.