Aladdin

Many thanks to the Longton Players for inviting me to see their 2024 pantomime production of Aladdin at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Longton, on Saturday 27th Jan 2024. This pantomime tells the well known story of Aladdin, who is the chosen one to enter the cave of wonders, which unleashes the genie of the lamp who can grant wishes. The antagonist, in this version, Abanazar, deceives Aladdin to undertake finding the lamp on his behalf, which does not go in Abanazar’s favour, so more deceit is concocted for him to fulfil his mission, which when it is achieved, goes against him and harmony is restored, resulting in a good old fashioned panto wedding. There were other panto-typical characters included into the story to add to the animation of the production & ensure all the traditional elements of the style were fulfilled.

Directed by Nick Briggs, I feel Nick understood his audience members well, especially the younger members which  suited them well with the slapstick & visual humour, stimulating their excitement. There were some great moments of interaction with the kids too. which actively involved them in the plot unravelling. For me, personally, this piece lacked pace and I feel much of the embellishments could have been omitted or shortened to enhance the engagement of the production, including most of the moment of song. That being said, there were some great characterisations brought about to the stage & there was some creative use of animation style homemade sets which added visual intrigue to the production. Spacing could have been more creatively used & I would have preferred more onstage interaction from the chorus members, which again would have added more pace and dimension.

The set and lighting designs were great, using detailed painted backdrops for the settings, which at times were blended with the lighting to change the hue creating the illusion of day vs night time. There were some great moments of full flood of the stage, particularly one the scenes which portrayed Abanaza’s lair, which flooded the white wall providing the proscenium arch, which was a great saturation of the entire stage and surrounding space.

Costumes were fantastic and really made an animation of the entire pantomime, The kimonos helped situate the location of the story within the Asian setting, also I would highly recommend steering well away from applying the  the eye make up which was also used to depict this as this could be deemed as racial discrimination. I loved the Genie of the Lamp’s costume by far the most, which was adorned with lights and integrated into the characters animation thoroughly involving the costume into the execution of the character’s movement.

For me there were a few key standout performers which carried the production for me, namely those of Jill Thompson who played Wishee Washee,  Liz Hobin and Joan Miller who played Yu-Dun-Wong & Hu-Dun-Pong, Nicola Hindley as Genie of the Lamp and Ems Cowburn who was a member of the chorus. I will deliberate into the rationale for these call-outs later, but outstanding delivery from all of these players.

Aladdin was played by Briony Rimmer who along with his counterpart, Princess Mandarin, played by Charlie Jones provided pleasant performances which drove the production forwards. They had some nice moments of song together & they both had the audience on their side.

Wishee Washee, Aladdin’s Brother and the silly billy style stock character was played by Jill Thompson. As noted before, Jill really shone throughout the production, providing high energy, great characterisation & physicality & some sharp wit & comedic timing, 

Widow Twankey, Aladdin’s Mother and the stock panto dame character was played by Mike Stockley who gave a charming performance throughout the show. 

Yu-Dun-Wong & Hu-Dun-Pong, a vaudeville double act were expertly played by Liz Hobin and Joan Miller who provided some great slapstick physical comedy as well as some sharp quick one liners, the pair played well off on another & lifted the energy when they were on stage.

Abanazar, the panto villain, was played by James Miley who again delivered well. He gave some menacing moments within his portrayal. I was a little put off by the evil cackle, as it felt ingenuine, and so would recommend finding the motivation & intent behind the mwahahaha.

The Spirit of the Ring was played by Christina Rose, who delivered a pixie-like characterisation. It was evident she has strong technical dance experience through her placement, but I would have liked to have seen her gone further to connect the movement to the words and sentiment of them. The Genie of the Lamp was played by Nicola Hindley who gave a solid performance with gravitas and was a shame this part was only featured as she brought some great energy with her.

Smaller parts were played by  Steve Baxter as Executioner, Rob Daniels as Waiter. Nicola Lowe as So-Shy and Geoff Blamire as The Emperor who provided decent performances and investments into their ports.

The chorus were bolstered by Gillian Coxhead, Steve Baxter, Clare Sargent, Ems Cowburn, Vanessa Farrington , Cath Grilli, Abby Litvinski & Mia Hickson, who provided some ambience to the scene and the songs they were involved in. At this point I need to state that the entire cast, bar those called out in my opening remarks on the cast section, could learn lessons from Ems’ commitment & investment upon the stage, for which she really shone & uplifted the entire spirit of the production. To see an actor absolve themselves into their character & performance is what brings theatre alive for me, and for this Ems and my above call outs were the stars of the show for me.

Many thanks again to the Longton Players for inviting me to their pantomime production of Aladdin. I wish all involved the very best for future productions.

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