Aladdin

Aladdin’s adventures in Peking kick off Christmas at PADOS House.

Tim Platt’s Aladdin was a very easy and wholesome performance, his comfort with this role and understanding of the genre was abundant. Vocally, he struggled at points but all was forgiven with the poise of his character and confidant presentation. The title character of this panto is often a wet and mediocre act in comparison to the others but Tim made the absolute most of it with a cheeky boyish charm giving his performance substance, meaning and purpose.  

A usual comment from me in a PADOS panto review is vocal energy from the ensemble, the troupe seem to have taken note of this as efforts were made to rectify it, particularly in the opening number which started with a bountiful punch from the vocals but volume levels soon dipped after the first verse. We got an excellent selection of tunes compiled into this panto with Timberlake’s ‘I Cant Stop The Feeling’, Hudson’s ‘I Love You I Do’ and ‘Friend Like Me’ from the Disney film version of ‘Aladdin’.    

Gender switching is, of course, one of the forefront ingredients with a traditional panto, however, certain roles are more commonly associated to being played by a certain sex. 99% of the time you’d find a male actor portraying the wicked uncle Abanazar, here we get Charlotte Clegg as the wicked Auntie Abanazar which certainly worked – and, to be fair, why shouldn’t it!?

Panto gives us the fortunate opportunity to tailor the production to the strengths of the cast so I never understand why, in panto, performers attempt to sing songs which either don’t suit them or are out of their vocal ability, it’s something which is all too common and the reason for it baffles me. Choose something (anything!) which will show off the performer to showcase their vocal ability at its very best, it’s not pleasurable for the audience and it doesn’t do the performer any favours to strain reaching notes in a song which is out of their depth.  

Jack Forrest’s Genie of the Lamp was a mound of extreme energy! Such energy levels are of course encouraged, particularly in this field of theatre, though portrayals with energy levels as exhausting as this can convey a performance on the verge of clumsy or over indulgent. Channelling your energy to release it in stages is a trait worth attempting here as it was at times too intense – especially in a venue as intimate as this. From a directors point of view I appreciate that it’s easier to tone it down than it is to unearth it from some performers and would wholly understand the choice to have left this as it was to make up for the others who didn’t quite deliver the oomph needed.     

Simon Fletcher returned as the Dame after a year off and delivered a fine act as the Widow Twanky offering his usual gusto and comedic skill. I do enjoy Simon’s pantomime Dames – he has the presence and knack of this patriotic art form and the crowd lapped up the tomfoolery with him. Very enjoyable.

This production was rather lengthy! Don’t be shy to hack away at some of the drivel (which most panto scripts will give you) to allow you to include your own gags and skits – the bits we love! The programme didn’t tell us who penned this particular version or where the licence had been obtained which is something I always look out for. 

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