Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

It was a Full House in a packed church hall where the Orient came alive in a production very seldom performed, making a refreshing change from the other “popular” festive pantos. Forget the story line – the basis was there – as a varied amount of panto characters came alive to present an evening of corny jokes, song and dance, Gangnam Style dancing, great costumes, and a brilliant revealing of the Secret Cave. Add the necessary comedy supplied in bucket loads by a formidable dopey Dame (Fiona Gill), aided by daft Mustafa Screwloose (Graham Watt), plus the exotic dancing from Carmen the Camel. Causing trouble was Asbad, the King of the Thieves (Steve Lawrie), assisted by the daft duo of Bashim and Grabbit (Keith Spotteswood & Lori Allardyce); and not forgetting the four delightful “mini” Thieves! Hero Ali Baba (Lindsey Cumming) confidently played the role throughout; as did the nasty Evil Queen Alsatia (Kirsty Small) up against Caterina (Alyson Duff), making a twee Good Fairy. There were many assorted characters, too numerous to mention, all adding to the fun. The big company, and the dancing ensemble, worked wonders on the small stage and the entire show had a great party spirit about it all.

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