Aladdin

For this year’s Dodders pantomime, we took a trip to the east for Aladdin.  This classic tale of the poor village boy who finds a magic lamp and releases a genie is a panto staple, full of well-known characters from Abanazar to Widow Twankey and Wishee Washee.  Needless to say, the Dodders put their own madcap spin on the whole thing, to the great enjoyment of a packed out audience.

The show began with the appearance of the nasty Abanazar, a suitably creepy and boo-able turn from James Cartwright, who had a nice line in evil laughs.  I liked that he embraced the booing – even encouraging the audience to boo louder and louder at one point.  There was also plenty of mileage in various characters mispronouncing his name, causing him to go redder and redder in frustration!  Also popping up at this point was the poor, put upon Slave of the Ring (Chris Hinchley), who had clearly had enough of being at Abanazar’s beck and call.

We soon introduced to our hero Aladdin, played with confidence and verve by Ella Mansell.  Becky Jackson had plenty of energy as his brother Wishee Washee, interacting well with the audience who were encouraged to build up his confidence.  As their mother, Widow Twankey, Scott Broadfield was an absolute driving force, with huge stage presence with a nice line in corny jokes.  There were some great set pieces involving these three, including a very wet laundry scene in which poor Sam Halfpenny was dragged up on stage from behind the sound desk for a drenching!

We discovered that Aladdin was being hunted by a couple of policemen – Pep-Si and Ko-La – played in Keystone cops style by Paddy Crump and Sharon Cartwright, running madly around the auditorium as well as the stage.  Meanwhile, the Emperor of China (Alan Taylor) was on the hunt for a husband for his daughter, Princess Jasmine (Harriet Crump).  This led to an entertaining Blind Date skit, in which the Emperor sported a very fetching sparkly jacket and we met prospective suitors Wal Nutwhip and Phil Mabucket (great names!)  But Jasmine only had eyes for Aladdin – if only he wasn’t so poor... 

Enter Abanazar, in need off a willing dupe to acquire a magic lantern from a scary cave (very scary, going by the number of times Aladdin had to be persuaded to enter!)  This, of course, led to the appearance of the Genie, played in amusingly deadpan style by Patricia Taylor, complete with local accent.  Thereafter we saw the lamp change hands multiple times, and for our heroes to take a trip on a magic flying carpet – both in a full size and a miniature version, which required a hearty kick to get it moving up the aisle! 

Completing the cast were Alice Carver as Princess Jasmine’s companion So-Shy who, it turned out, had taken a bit of a shine to Wishee Washee, and an eight-strong chorus, all of whom played their part, in particular adding their voices to the group songs.  A word in particular for Marcus Avis, certainly the youngest performer on stage but not lacking in confidence and presence – one to watch for the future, I think! 

The Dodders are certainly a group that do things their own way, not least in respect of the prompt, who is almost another character!  Seated at the front of the auditorium, with spotlight and glass of wine, Lynne Griffin did a sterling job whenever called into action, at one point even having a chat with the Dame about where they were in the script!  There were also plenty of local and topical references peppered through the evening, including references to Bromsgrove Sporting and Elon Musk, alongside a swipe at the poor people of Hagley!

The technical elements of the show were well delivered – I particularly liked the sound effects that often accompanied the jokes or physical comedy (there was quite a lot of farting!)  There was also some very nice scenery, including two well painted side panels for the Emperor’s palace featuring a dragon and a tiger.  Costumes were also very good, in particular for the royals and Widow Twankey, who in true panto style got through quite the selection of frocks.  Congratulations to the whole backstage team.

My thanks to the Fairborne Dodders for inviting me along to enjoy their unique style of pantomime once again.  Well done, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. 

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