The American Dream, P&P Productions, Lighthouse, Poole

IN today's fast-moving world it is all too easy to accept what we see and hear without questioning it. So I wonder how many people came away from this latest P&P offering singing its praises - but never stopping to reflect that every person on that stage was an amateur giving their utmost not for monetary reward, but for the sheer joy of performing.

But think about it we should, because what P&P achieves in these annual extravaganzas is absolutely as good as it gets, and I don't use those words lightly. Why bother with the West End when a standard this high is so close to home?

This year saw long-time company member Sarah Cooper taking the reins for the first time. I just couldn't fault her direction or choreography, and the slickness with which one number seamlessly followed another left me feeling exhausted. And with John Stringer once more in charge of the music there was never a note out of place either.

It was mouth-watering - a glorious Wicked section, the brilliant Forbidden Broadway, the Star Spangled Banner and so much more, performed with all the razzmatazz, and dexterity that this company has at its fingertips.