Aladdin the panto

This was great fun. The annual village panto keenly awaited by the residents of Gamlingay and particularly poignant this year as it was also celebrating the Players’ 60th anniversary. Directed by Gamlingay Players stalwart of over 30 years, Hayley Parker, but directing her first ever pantomime, we were transported to Peking with a script well suited to the annual ribbing of all the surrounding local villages. And not an opportunity to do so was lost! Relationships are now at an all time low!

The plot centres around Abanazara wanting to be the most powerful sorceress in the universe but she needs Aladdin’s help to get the magic lamp from inside a cave which only Aladdin can safely enter. Meanwhile the Princess needs to marry a rich suitor to save the Kingdon from poverty but unfortunately falls for the penniless Aladdin. However, with the help of a magic ring, a genie and a magic lamp and despite the hinderance of Abanazara, two hypnotised policemen and Aladdin’s dim-witted brother Wishee Washee they somehow (spoiler alert) end up wealthy and living happily ever after.

Under the stage management of Phil Vass, there were 16 scenes to create, 13 of which were different, quite a considerable challenge for the hard-working stage crew of Chris Martin, Barry Mealing, Colin Carroll and Joe Mountfort, although many of them were in front of the tabs. We started off in front of the tabs on our way from ‘Gamlingay to Peking,’ being introduced to our villain the wonderfully dressed Abanazara played to the hilt by Samantha Falder, who straight away gave us plenty of opportunity to boo. And we didn’t hesitate! Then the tabs opened to Old Peking Town Square a very lush scene with a series of flats decorated in various Chinese style streets and symbols. We also had Twankey’s Takeaway, a simple café with appropriate tables and chairs, ‘Twankey’s Bedroom,’ ‘The Mountains of Central Bedfordshire’ (Hmm!!??) and the cleverest scene of all ‘The Cave’, where the entrance was created by lifting and arching the bottom of the black tabs, which was really effective. Once inside it revealed a treasure trove of objects including of course the all-important magic lamp! The second act added two more new scenes with Aladdin’s lush palace which then became Abanazara’s palace. Very effective all round and with the scenes in front of the tabs covering the changes, the pace fairly zipped along from one scene to another. Excellent job.

Lighting man Andrew Peters had some new toys to play with as the society had recently invested in some new LED lights which gave us some splendidly appropriate washes and lit the stage very well. He had a ball! Particularly liked the way he lit the inside of the cave to give a great spooky effect.

Sound by Dave Masterston worked very well with total clarity of speech with our unmiced actors and all sound cues were spot on. However, the singing was a little weak in volume and, although I hate say it, being a protagonist of good old-fashioned projection, could possibly have benefitted from some amplification.

Costumes by Hayler Parker and Amy Lovat were absolutely splendid, from Abanazara’s long violet/purple dress with a spectacular gothic style headpiece to the Dame’s collection of outfits which were bordering on the ridiculous, especially the one for the final bow, unique and very funny. And the police outfits were equally as amusing and not to forget The Princess’s light blue/turquoise dress or Aladdin’s traditional Red and White eastern red trousers and top. Add in Ava Ginnetta’s sourcing of the various props especially in filling the Cave and the scene was most definitely set in the land of magic lamps!

Music was under the control of MD Jane Orchiston and all songs were to the accompaniment of the very accomplished Steff Laugharne on piano. The players, according to the programme are yet to come up with a piece that Steff can’t play! Add in some simple but effective choreography by Mel Dummer and our musical enjoyment was complete.

The acting was classic panto stuff, with all the characters larger than life, Samantha Falder dominated the stage as the evil Abanazara, Rebecca Keeves a very confident Aladdin and Matthew Head as Wishee Washee played dumb with superb timing and to great comic effect. Jim Burke as Widow Twankey knows how to play an audience to the hilt and his interactions with Tom, the unfortunate audience member he picked on, was comedy genius and worth the ticket price alone. Our two Policemen, Pc’s Peasy (Jenny Vass) and Squeezy (Mel Dummer) were a great pairing and their well-coordinated antics and comedy routines were a great laugh. The stunt where they put their helmets on and foam squirted out of the top of them was both unexpected and a really good belly laugh. Beth Parker a beautifully pitched, very demure Princess, Ian Parker a splendid Emperor, and Jon Mountfort running around in the classic bed sheet as the Ghost brought a smile to everybody’s face. Hannah Ginnetta was a magical Slave of the ring. And finally, after a long wait in the dressing room Bryony Mountfort swept onto the stage to right all wrongs as the Genie of the Lamp. All accompanied by a lovely little chorus of youngsters, Theo Peters, Florence Hardy and Emilia Davidson.

All very much enjoyed by the pretty much full house, and so congratulations to firstly the Players for reaching their 60th anniversary milestone and to director Hayley Parker, her cast and crew for my first taste this year of the traditional run up to the festive season. For her first panto direction I think she can pat herself on the back and clock that one up as a success.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.