Aladdin

The society’s traditional Summer Panto takes place weekly during the holiday period and, once again, there was a full house on the night I attended.

What the audience undoubtedly would have wanted, and what they got, was a very enjoyable presentation of a story which can’t be changed too much.  If the cast are enthusiastic then this will transfer across to the audience and that’s exactly what happened here.

The script was full of corny jokes, quite nicely executed, plenty of songs which were kept short, some lively dancing and movement and all brought a noisy response from the auditorium.

I really liked Olivia Thompson as Aladdin and her performances grow as does her confidence every time I see her.  Tilly Binns was a promising Princess Jasmine and I enjoyed their work together.  Much of the comedy was provided by Ian Thompson as Widow Twanky, with his usual outrageous costumes, and David Cameron as Wishee Washee who immediately had the audience on his side.  There was solid support from Phil Wilson (Slave of the Ring) and Josh Muir (Abanazer).

Costumes were bright and there was a simple set which was used well.  Perhaps there was a bit too much deviation from the script, probably unintentional, but that’s what once a week performances can be like.

The show was a bit too long but the most important thing was that it was a fun evening.

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