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Aladdin

Author: Catherine Dixey

Information

Date
10th January 2025
Society
Henley Players (Suffolk)
Venue
Henley Community Centre, Suffolk
Type of Production
Pantomime
Director
Marina Griggs
Musical Director
Charlotte McBurney
Choreographer
Bev Pilbrough
Assistant Director
Richard Ashby
Written By
Alex Jackson

This was (at long last, Hoorah!) a traditional Panto with loads of jokes, amusing  rhyming verse, plenty of adlibs, the inevitable “Its behind you” along with numerous well chosen songs.  It is partly set in Egypt and there was a good Pyramid with a hand made Sphinx head and palm tree to the side of the stage to set the opening scene.  Norman Lloyd was Abanazar and looked impressive in his costume. I’m sure he enjoyed playing this evil character as he stirs up the audience and they are soon booing him.  He was excellent in his portrayal.  Richard Ashby played The Professor who Abanazar immediately casts his magic and turns him into his menial servant, resembling a gruesome one-eyed hunchback.  This was very physically demanding for Richard as he hobbled around the stage, bent double in a very subservient way, a role he achieved with total conviction.

Wishee (Widow Twankey’s son) is played by Hayley Gavin injecting good measures of comedy into the role as she interacts with the audience.  Another excellent character was Widow Twankey. Al Rogers looked great in a multitude of colourful costumes and outrageous wigs!, which I am told, were mostly made by himself.  A quality performance from a traditional comedic Panto Dame.  Aladdin was played by Gary Stone. He looked and played the part well, especially when he was bedecked in his finery in Act 2, although personally I must admit I do prefer a female to be cast in this role of leading boy. Princess Jasmine was the lovely Ebony Marie Rock, she looked and sang beautifully and was totally believable in her characterisation.  

The supporting cast, including Tillie Patchett as Lilly and Bev Pilbrough as The Spirit, all gave good performances adding to the comedy of the storyline.   There was a small chorus of juniors who were delightful, giving energetic and enthusiastic performances, in both their singing and dancing.  

The whole cast injected life and energy into all the song and dance numbers with some good choreography from Bev. The two standout songs of the show was their rendition of  ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and  ‘Bad to the Bone’.  Very entertaining performances!

I have already touched on some of the costumes, but all looked very colourful and traditional. The set  was atmospheric and the newly acquired star cloth added  magic to the  flying carpet scene. The inevitable washing scene in Twankey’s launderette gave good scope for plenty of comedy and the props department had designed a great working washing machine, wringer and drier which all enhanced the audience’s amusement.

 It was great to see all the cast at the end of the show, to congratulate them on their performances and catch up with some old friends. We always get such a warm welcome from Henley Players and thanks also go to their Chair, Tony Stokes for your hospitality. Well done to Marina and all her cast and crew for this very amusing and entertaining show, restoring for us and the audience, faith in a traditional Pantomime. I’m sure the audiences on your final performances will love it as much as we did.

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