Aladdin

This year Attic Theatre brought us the story of Aladdin with a truly Doric twist. Scott Jamieson’s script was a delightful mix of Doric words and songs, local references, innuendos and characters (no Emperor but a bumbling Provost Torry) greatly appreciated by the adults and youngsters in the audience alike. Aladdin, strongly played by Zara Edwards, dreamed of being an internet influencer as well as winning the love of Jasmine, Provost Torry’s beautiful daughter played by Rachel Jones. These two actors worked well together making a believable couple and showed no fear even when hovering high above the stage on a magic carpet! Comedy was in the safe hands of Mike Taylor-Clarke’s gallus Widow Twankee and her numpty but lovable son Wishee Washee played by Hannah Smith. The scene in Twankee’s Wash and Bla where Wishee was shrunk and then restored to full size was hugely enjoyed by the audience. Matthew Walker as the evil Abernazmar was eminently boo-able and revelled in the audience’s reactions to his machinations. The star of the show for me was Irene Johnson as Abernazmar’s sardonic sidekick Ian the Seagull as she strutted the stage searching for scran. Ian however became the hero of the hour when he became fed-up of his master’s bad deeds and turned against him taking him out far into the North Sea and leaving him bobbing about like a duck. Michelle Bruce as ceilidh loving Jeanie – of the Teapot as she had outgrown the Lamp – was a delight as she aided Aladdin in his quest for love as was Robyn Bowie as her nemesis Ringa the statuesque Fairy of the Ring. Jeanie in her sparkling green and tartan outfit and Ringa sparkling in pink were a nice reference to “Wicked”. Strong support was given by Calum Ross (Provost Torry) and young Robyn Stephen (Shug the Flying Rug). The ensemble of 15 adults plus the 12 members of the Young Stars Blue team sang well and delivered step perfect choreography in every number but especially in the Dance Medley towards the end of Act One which included the whole cast doing demonstrations of the Macarena, Gangnam and YMCA amongst others. The 5 piece band was always supportive of the singers. The sets were simple, bright and bold helped by good lighting effects. Costuming too was bright and bold and appropriate to each character. Congratulations to everyone at Attic Theatre for inviting us to Aberdonniedee and delivering another excellent show.

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