Aladdin

This was my first visit to Fladbury Village Hall and the first time I have seen a production by Fladbury Players. I was made aware beforehand that Fladbury Player perform a NODA pantomime once every 12 – 18 months with performances either in October or February.

It was lovely to see a full hall and it is my understanding that all four performances were well attended by family and friends as well as the local community. Indeed, the whole show had a community feel about it with several references to the local area and local personalities which were well appreciated by the audience.

The pantomime presented was very traditional with lots of cheering the good and booing the bad. Although the sets were minimal the laundry scene was very effective. As the only curtain on stage were the main tabs these needed to be pulled in to enable crew to change the sets.

Looking at the programme it was evident members of the same family were involved in bringing the pantomime to life.  With a large cast, it is not possible to mention everyone by name. It is fair to say it was very evident everyone enjoyed their involvement and they worked well together.

It would be amiss not to mention some people individually. Aladdin played by Mia Brotherton and Jasmine played by Hannah Paterson both aged 12 years were ideal for the roles they played. It was encouraging to witness pantomime is safe for future generations if they are anything to go by. They both delivered their lines with confidence and were aware of the unwritten rules of pantomime in their characterisations. Well done to both of you.

Rob Brown as Widow Twanky was brilliant and his ability to play the part of a dame (clearly a man in a frock) could have graced a much larger stage. His costume changes were numerous and I lost count enough to say he had another new costume on each entrance. The laundry basket as a hat and the willow pattern costume were my favourites. His mannerisms were those of one of a traditional panto dame.

Jonathan Brotherton was well able to carry the role of Wishee Washee and involved the audience encouraging us to respond every time he came on stage. He had what appeared to be a small piece of paper at the end of the show, this clearly had very small writing on it as he seemed to mention almost the whole audience.

Our panto baddie was Abanazar played by Matt Owens assisted by bumbling assistants Hi and Lo Tom Parkinson and Dave Harley. Owen was sufficiently evil but not so evil as to frighten the younger members of the audience.

The costumes for the whole cast were of a very high standard especially the one worn by Jodie Young as Slave of the Ring. Maybe a bit more attention to footwear with some cast members would have helped.

Choreography worked well on such a small stage. The finale which lasted about seven minutes was well done and well-rehearsed.  The very young members of the cast coped with this very well. Music played live by Penny and Peter Wagner was well arranged and each of the selected songs were fitting to the characters and the plot. It was amusing to watch Penny trying to prevent the massive amounts of pieces of paper used to depict washing powder getting into her keyboard.

Finally, a special mention must go to Cathi Young for the make-up. It is a long time since I have seen quite so much glitter. The detail on characters such as Slave of the Ring and Genie was exceptional and must have taken a considerable amount of time to perfect.

Overall an enjoyable evening, well done to the production team and all involved both on and off stage. I thank everyone at Fladbury Players for making me feel so welcome and for bringing a good pantomime to the Fladbury village hall. I look forward to seeing you all again in the future.

Andy Brown

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