Aladdin

One fundamental aspect of any pantomime is the comedy value and writer / director of this production, Peter Birch, had ensured that comedy was a chief ingredient of his presentation, always a good start! I’d always favour a panto that’s brave enough to push the innuendo as far as it possibly can. Adults should not have to endure a pantomime for the sake of the kiddies, it should be equally as entertaining for the big kids if not more so! “Aladdin, are you coming?” “Nah, he’s always out of breath at this bit” – perfect!   

Deriving from the ‘Arabian Nights’ stories, a confusing element for many with ‘Aladdin (the panto)’ is how it’s traditionally set in China yet our hero has an Arabic name. I’m sure there are several theories of how the pantomime rendering evolved to be set in China but I wholly appreciated how Peter had included a brief explanation of this within his script, it’s all it needed, to be acknowledged rather than ignored and took up no time whatsoever. Children are full of questions as I’m sure many of us will know and can pick holes and fault in the most bizarre places which shouldn’t be disregarded, usually starting with... “but…?” “why…?” and “how…?” Many pantomime scripts fail to address the gaps that have evolved in many fairy tale translations that have developed over the years, for example; at midnight, why does Cinderella’s dress and carriage transform back into what they were, yet her crystal slippers remain intact after the magic has worn off? And since when do shoes only fit one person? …these are just prime examples of regularly unexplained shortcomings of our cherished stories, it wouldn’t take much to explain or create a reason / explanation for it and it seems that Peter evidently recognises and repairs such glitches which I entirely respected.   

Taking a look at the major pantomimes throughout the UK in recent years you’ll see men playing the Prince, Dick, Jack and Aladdin. Panto trends have moved on and it’s rare these days to see girls taking the principal boy roles, there are several examinations of why that is but it’s amateur theatre which is – for now, at least – keeping this tradition alive and, with a shortage of singing and dancing young men in our game I’m sure it’ll continue for quite some time yet.

Our Aladdin was portrayed by Angela Cooke and she absolutely had the ideal poise and delivery for a traditional rendering of a female principal boy. A sturdy act. I find community pantos incredibly comforting, more so than the pro ones with their loyal audiences who adore seeing those familiar faces up on the stage each year, like receiving a warm hug when they make their first appearance. Derek Stuart-Cole as Widow Twankey was on fine form, ensuring his annual outing was a welcome return. Another frequent face of a Nomads panto is Jenny Hollinshead, this time as the Genie of the Ring who proffered many a chuckle (often at her own expense) leaving a memorable and favourite delivery.   

Ditto and Echo, the evil sidekick duo, had mounds of energy thanks to Joe Cramsie and Jeff Harpin, the victory of their act came with Bugsy Malone’s ‘Bad Guys’ which was a well-received musical highlight. Jon Gardner proffered a sturdy act as the chief villain, the wicked Abanazar.

Dipping into another of the ‘Arabian Nights’ tales Ali Baba and the Four Tea Thieves made an enjoyable cameo (no, that’s not a typo, this was four thieves who stole tea which gave a nod to my all-time favourite nomad panto sketch from a few years back – red bush!) A much-enjoyed and well accomplished skit.

I struggle to understand the reasoning behind it but it’s not uncommon in pantos for non-singers to frequently get given songs to sing when vocal ability isn’t their strength, or, singers given songs which are way beyond their means. There simply isn’t any need for it and creative teams who keep making this happen need to appreciate that it doesn’t do anyone any favours (on and off stage) hindering the quality of their production. The realisation of this cannot come soon enough!

The flying carpet illusion is likely to be the biggest challenge to overcome for any production of Aladdin, to aid this, as traditional as ever, we got a UV scene to help create the effect. Sadly, the ultimate rule of any UV scene was broken on several occasions with black silhouettes creeping into view. On paper, the idea and logistics of how this effect would transpire would no doubt seem relatively achievable, however, the finishing of it wasn’t as smooth as it perhaps could have been.   

Musically, we were under the direction of Adam Garnett who’d pieced together a good score which ticked many boxes when piecing together a panto playlist and thankfully he’d filled set changes with playoffs to present efficient segues between scenes.

A note must go to Matthew Spilsbury as the Genie of the Lamp. Usually seen in the chorus, he’d stepped into the principal line up and gave us a lofty character and a charming vocal performance too.  

Choreography was a highlight to this production’s presentation, Jude Goodier showcased a variety of movement genres keeping the full company numbers relatively straightforward to keep within everyone’s means without losing the eye-catching factor but, without question, her finest moment was the 2WEI cover of ‘Survivor’, a sequence which was fantastically accomplished by her principal troupe! A show stealing moment!   

If the supporting chorus are on stage during a musical number, use them. ‘One’ from ‘A Chorus Line’ was performed to a track complete with pre-recorded vocals yet the chorus were placed around the edges of the space looking on. If the chorus are there, then why not have them singing it? They did look a little awkward at this point. It wouldn’t have struck me too much if the dancers performed to the track without the chorus being there. This aside, the routine was brilliantly performed by the dancers complete with the iconic gold top hats and tailcoats associated to this number.  

The scenic design, construction and artwork are all crafted in-house by Bryan Shakeshaft and certainly provided a sterling impact for each scene.  

Almost (yes…almost!) every panto this season has jumped on the ‘baby shark’ wagon. I understand that such current fads should absolutely be included but my gosh it’s blooming irritating, more so with how it sticks in your head for DAYS(!!) …and frequently getting funny looks in supermarket queue’s because you’re unaware you’re humming the retched tune!

Frequently underestimated, any pantomime is a mammoth venture to get on its feet and is ought to challenge every department of a theatre, but so often overlooked is the calibre of the script, if it’s unfunny and doesn’t solidly punch out the story you’re doomed before you’ve begun and thankfully none of those traits were evident in this execution. As was perfectly defined in this shows programme… “Something old, something new, something borrowed and something …the kids don’t quite get!” - a perfect description of the foundations to create an idyllic panto! 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.