Aladdin

The Pantomime season is just about over but there are still little gems to be seen.  One of these was Washington Theatre Group’s production of Aladdin.  To be a success in this genre the offering has to have all the ingredients including slapstick, humour, pathos,  good sets, costumes, lighting and music  which  blended together with audience participation provides a great night out. Well, in this production it certainly was.

Before a packed opening night’s audience the show, cleverly written , adapted and directed by Matthew Lowe with help from Marie Lovell and John Seymour, delivered on all counts. The pace was good throughout,  and on such a restricted  stage setting  with which the Company have to manage , the scene changes and the movement of a cast of 16 was practically faultless .

On the technical side I was greatly impressed by the audio-visual staging of the magic carpet ride involving back projection by the principal characters, and also the transformation outcome of  Wishee Washee’s  journey through the washing machine and the wringer.

With such a number of Principals in the cast, all of whom performed and delivered all that was asked of them, it is never easy to single out any above the others.  I was, however, very impressed by Sarah Seymour,  who portrayed  the leading role of Aladdin, Peter Marshall, as the evil Abanazar, John Seymour  and Peter Wilson, as Widow Twankey and Wishee Washee respectively, whose comedic interaction was spot on, Emma Simpson, as Princess Balroubador (lovely voice) , Catriona Uren, as the Slave of the Ring, and Sarah Clarke for her wonderful cameo role as the Geordie Kung Fu fighting aide Pam.

Congratulations  are also offered  to the 20 plus members of the associated support team  including the front of House Team, and Stage Crew for all their work to ensure a great evening.

The night was ended on a nice touch with  the whole cast assembling in the reception area at curtain down to thank the audience for their attendance.

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