TRADITIONAL pantomime versions of Sleeping Beauty end with the handsome prince kissing the princess and the obligatory fairytale wedding.

But the Colwall Players are currently rehearsing a very different version.

Their version includes depressed ogres, flatulent fairies and a prince more interested in hunting than kissing girls.

This version, based on the original dark and disturbing 17th Century classic and written by Rufus Norris for the Young Vic, takes us beyond that waking kiss into a perilous world of beastly shadows and a forest full of enchanted trouble.

"It's been great fun to rehearse because it's so different. There's comedy in it but it's definitely not panto. It's very dark," said Angela Meredith, who plays Goody the fairy.

Many of the cast are played by the seven-14-year-old Young Colwall Players.

"The children have loved it. They like the gruesome elements and the flatulent fairy and have really enjoyed getting to play the nasty parts," said Mrs Meredith.

The young actors play nasty thorns, which encircle the castle, fairies forest creatures, sprites and page boys. Holly Daniels and Harriet Duddy play Hector and Rose, the royal offspring of the famous Sleeping Beauty and her handsome prince.

With a comic king and a queen, who's a bit of an ogress, and a fairy who definitely isn't what you'd expect - she's scruffy, breaks wind a lot and has a bad temper - this version of the timeless children's classic should appeal to young and old alike.

"The characters are very realistic, not like in panto, and although it's very funny, the characters are played quite seriously," said Mrs Meredith.

The characters display fear, greed, courage and compassion as the story of the princess who pricked her finger on a spinning wheel unfolds.

"The whole cast have had to approach it more like a serious play," said Mrs Meredith.

Rufus Norris' Sleeping Beauty was a huge hit when first shown in London three years ago and the Colwall Players hope to have captured its gleeful mix of the mythic and the macabre.

Sleeping Beauty will be showing at Colwall Village Hall from Thursday to Saturday, February 24-26, at 7.30pm. There will be a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are available from Goodwin's Estate Agents in Colwall, telephone 01684 540300.