Aladdin

Pantomime is both a form of musical comedy and a participatory form of theatre and to that end is, I personally think, harder to do than a comedic play or farce.  Much relies on the ability of members of the cast (usually the dame or her sidekick) to draw the audience into the action given they are expected to sing along or hiss and boo at certain times.  Therefore, if you are a panto person (which I am) you go along knowing what you are in for.  What we got from Haslingfield Little Theatre was a warm welcome (including mulled wine and mince pies) and a fun evening.

Abanazar (John Beresford) got things off to a good start, encouraging boos from the off and I was fascinated by the electronic type voice of the Genie of the Ring (Katherine Coxall).  Janice Chambers gave us a talented and confident performance in the Principal Boy role, she has a clear sweet voice.  Diana Offord and Robin Perry as the comedy policemen Ping and Pong tried hard but the script didn’t give them much to work with.  The same could be said for the part of Wishee Washee played by Matt Dye: there just wasn’t enough substance in the role for him to make much impact, although I thought he did extremely well and was very relaxed in his interaction with the audience and Tyson the Panda.   The appropriately named Mike Bass as the Emperor has a great voice and did a fine job in the role.  I was a bit fazed by a female Genie but Jenny Gore rose to the challenge beautifully.  Panto stands and falls in the hands of the dame and there is no doubt at all that Andy Walker as Widow Twankey worked his fishnets off; however the stand out performance for me was Maria Skovmand as Princess Jasmine who gave an accomplished performance, she lifted all the scenes in which she was involved.

A pantomime relies heavily on ensemble support from those who are ‘only in the chorus’.  I am always frustrated when I hear someone say that.  Any chorus, particularly a pantomime chorus, adds an extra dimension to a production and so did all the citizens and cave sprites in Aladdin.  Thoroughly rehearsed, all dances executed skilfully and all songs performed to a high standard.  Well done to them all and to choreographer Judith Willows, MD Hilary Stokes and the musicians. 

I see shows in large and small theatres, community centre, schools and village halls, and the variation in facilities is huge.  What Haslingfield Little Theatre achieve in their venue is amazing.  The settings were really stunning, particularly Aladdin’s cave which was truly magical, enhanced by Phil Dale’s extremely good lighting design.  As for the costumes, it would be hard to equal those of last year’s award-winning Alice in Wonderland’s but those for Aladdin were certainly close to them.  

Congratulations to directors Judith Brammar and Peter Haines and all involved in Aladdin, it was all great fun.

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