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Friday, November 21, 2008, 07:00
You can't go far wrong with this subject, which along with Cinderella is the most popular of panto stories. The script has been written by company member Geoff Coventry, who has provided many similar works in the past.
As usual he has spiced things up by introducing some innovations. And as he also plays the evil Abanazar, he has no doubt awarded himself some of the best lines! A busy man is Geoff – he also prepared the adaptation of Peter Pan, seen at Lipson Community College's Muse Theatre last week.
Aladdin is only one of the 264 tales mainly from Persia, India and Arabia that make up the Book of The Thousand And One Nights, a collection of individual tales assimilated piecemeal starting at least a thousand years ago.
The Aladdin story was first performed as a panto, the first ever seen on the English stage, on Boxing Day 1788 at Covent Garden. It wasn't until 1813 that the baddie, hitherto known simply as the African Magician, acquired the name Abanazar.
Before 1861 the dame, previously called the Widow Ching Mustapha (a weird combination of Chinese and Arabic names) became the Widow Twankey, probably after the special type of green tea called twankhay, which was all the rage, shipped from China to Europe by the racing clippers.
The Aladdin story with which we are familiar today is actually a long way from the original tale, though the lamp, or some other object imbued with magic powers, and the treasure cave remain pretty consistent with versions in other cultures.
All the usual events and characters are here in director/choreographer Wendy Holmes' production, in which she is assisted by Dan Quayle as musical director. And the cast features several regular company members, including Gareth Davis, who yet again steps into the Dame's outlandish costumes, and Gareth Holmes, reprising his role as the Genie of the Lamp. He is opposed by Alison David as the Spirit of the Ring. Samantha Couch is Princess Jasmine and Kathy Jacobs the titular hero, Aladdin. Among the large cast are ten lovelies as the Handmaidens, and a gaggle of youngsters from the Wranglers Children's Group.
Performances run at the Athenaeum Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday, December 2 to 6 at 7.30pm with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday.
Tickets cost £9.50 and there are the usual concessions. There is also a family ticket for two adults and two children at the special rate of £29. Seats may be booked by calling the theatre box office on 01752 266104, or 079321 43746, or online at www.thewranglers.co.uk
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