Harriet Gordon as Aladin and Evie O'Malley as
Princess Jasmine
Aladdin
Sutton Arts Theatre
*****
Well slap my thigh and rub my lamp, with
the Arabian nights closing in it must be the panto season again in
Sutton's Chinese quarter as Aladdin flies in on a Jet2 Axminster.
It's three years since a thigh was slapped at
Sutton Arts, (Oh, yes it is! etc for several pages) and it’s a
traditional return with Aladdin, and even more of a tradition
going back to the golden age of panto with a Principal Boy who is . . .
well, not a boy, with Harriet Gordon taking on the eponymous role and
making a fine job of it . . . Oh, yes she does!
Sorry, that will be the last of those, we promise
. . . Oh no we don't! . . .
Harriet gives us a clean-cut hero figure with a
fine singing voice and obligatory knee-high panto style boots.
Clean cut would be pushing it for the rest of her
family, such as James Hutt as her brother Wishy Washy. Wishy is
intellectually challenged as the modern parlance has it, a challenge he
seems to have lost a long time ago, which is probably why the kids in
the audience like him so much – kids just delight in stoopid.
Then there is Aladdin's mother, a claim still to
be verified, Widow Twankey, played by Paul Atkins with a blousey, in yer
face, silicone assisted sex appeal – an appeal falling on ears that are
not only deaf but in hiding. She is the poster girl for celibacy.
James Hutt as Wishy and Keyleigh Alison
as LaLa
Paul makes an excellent panto dame, a role that
is not drag or camp, but is unashamedly a bloke in frock, or lots of
them in Paul's case, suitably daft and with a penchant for latching on
to some poor bloke in the audience on the front couple of rows who is
vowing to buy tickets further back next year.
The pair are the comedy duo tasked with keeping
the laughs coming and the children cheering and booing. We all know
panto is a retirement home for old jokes that have lost whatever chuckle
they ever had, puny puns, asides that miss miserably and one liners that
were always one line too many, and Wishy and Twankey seem to have bought
a job lot and cornered the market.
Twankey, by the way, was a name inspired by a
cheap, inferior brand of tea sold in the 18th and 19th centuries . . .
just saying.
Up in the palace we have Mark Nattrass bumbling
his way through as the emperor, not that he has a problem knowing where
to bumble as he has designed another fabulous set complete with a clever
flying carpet. For protection he has the palace guards Tik and Tok, in
the shape of Kane Blundell and Connor Taylor who provide not so much
security, as sheer stupidity as another comedy double act.
Paul Atkins as Widow Twankey and Dave
Thane as Abanazar
Behind it all we have two love stories brewing
with Wishy and the Princess's servant and friend LaLa finding each other
– presumably with everyone else hiding out of the way. LaLa, played with
a wonderful comic touch and timing by Keyleigh Alison, speaks not so
much the language of love as the lingo of Ladywood, y’know worra mean,
and is Wishy's intellectual equal, which is more a confirmation they are
clueless than a compliment. She is also assistant stage manager where no
doubt she keeps her clue.
Meanwhile at the romantic end of the panto
Aladdin is falling thigh slappingly for Princess Jasmine, played
suitably demurely initially by Evie O'Malley. But this is a princess
with spirit, and she shows a flash of independence when it comes to
affairs of the heart and steely defiance when she is captured by
Aberystwyth. (It's Abanazar! Abanazar for gawd's sake!).
Her voice blends well with Aladdin in their
magical flying carpet ride above the clouds singing the lovely A
Whole New World – a spectacular effect for any amateur theatre.
The Princess did have a chance to find an
alternative with Twankey running a sort of potted game of Traitors, with
a disguised Aladdin and Daniel Charlton as Prince Vain of Vague and
Ethan Gibson as Prince Chadwick of Cringe. What youngsters who had never
seen the programme made of it is a mystery.
So, what about Abersoch? (It’s Abanazar!)
Every panto needs it's baddy, who by a 700 year old tradition enters
from stage left, Oh, yes he does!
Abanazar is the evil sorcerer who needs Aladdin
to get his hands on the fabulous lamp that will grant him powers to rule
the world . . . and global domination and stuff like that. Dave Thane is
a splendid baddy, disparaging the audience with a sort of derogatory
relish, generating a chorus of boos and cat calls. A lovely performance
of brilliant badness.
Jerome Pinnock-Glasgow as the Genie with
the ensemble behind
His cause is helped by The Spirit of the Ring, (Abathingy
has a magic ring, a special Apple job) played by Micah Hardwick-Beckford
who risks being blown up by pyrotechnics every time she appears (stage
right in the same 700 years old tradition). She speaks in rhyme most of
the time and she does it fine on every line.
Back to the lamp and give that a rub and up pops
Jerome Pinnock-Glasgow as the splendid genie of the lamp where he has
been trapped for 10,000 years, or at least since the interval.
Now while Aladdin has the lamp all is fine but
when Abathingy gets it, it all gets a bit messy and we end up somewhere
in the Pyramids where Dannielle Johnson appears as Priestess of the Sun.
She might be good as a priestess, but of the sun? It had been pouring
down all day.
But this is panto, so baddies never win, it's in
the rules, and everyone else sings a song, takes a bow and lives happily
ever after in a sea of cheers and applause.
As usual with a Sutton Arts panto, there was a
big ensemble, 25 strong, which demanded some clever choreography from
Janine Henderson who always seems to manage interesting routines without
making them too technical for amateurs.
Micah Hardwick-Beckford as the Spirit of
the Lamp
Behind it all was the excellent band under the
wonderful musical director Gladstone G Wilson on keys with Jay Haywood
and Rich Bates.
Adding to the production are video designs on the
rear wall from Christopher Commander and Sophie Curran and costume
design from co director Emily Armstrong and Phebe Bland, the bright and
colourful costumes, often changing scene by scene, add a real
professional touch to the production as does a well balanced sound and
effective lighting designed by David Ashton.
Sutton have set a high bar with their Christmas
shows with their pantos planting a flag for others to follow. This year
it again lays down its usual festive marker and in these cash strapped
times it is a wonderful opportunity for an affordable, family friendly,
Christmas treat. Written and directed by Emily Armstrong and Dexter
Whitehead, the genie will be residing in his lamp to 20-12-25.. he show
is sold out, but there is a waiting list for tickets.
Roger Clarke
06-12-25
A brief history of Panto
Sutton Arts
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