Aladdin Review

Panto for most, is the first time that children come to the theatre. For me this was true; the magic, colour and interaction of the audience have never gone away and gave me the love of the theatre which I hold to this day. To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Blackmore Players chose a traditional pantomime - Aladdin; it was good to see the hall packed out with surprisingly more adults than children. Obviously, most of them were from the village, as they seemed to know everyone on stage and heckled them most generously.

The sets were very well thought out with clever side flats that turned to reveal another set. The painting and attention to detail were excellent and indeed so much work was done that I was surprised that they were only going to perform just three times. Costumes and makeup were on the whole good although some of the men seemed to have forgotten that they really did need to be wearing make up, especially Wishy Washy who should have at least done something to look a little Chinese!!

The excellent Craig Stevens made a very evil Abanazar with his wonderful ability to work the audience. From the very onset they were booing and hissing him with abandon while he made the most of it. His henchmen, Abdul el Bulbul and Ming Farz were also were very good and with their comedic timing worked well together. Young Sandra Marriott shone for me and maybe future directors should think of giving her a chance as principal boy.

Barry Kirk as Widow Twankey obviously enjoyed his role and used his facial expressions to great effect to interact with the audience who clearly appreciated his efforts. Victoria Miller played Aladdin enthusiastically, to the delight of the audience, however it is possible that she was not the archetypal principle boy. Nonetheless her romantic duets with the Princess - Amy Pudney were sung well in harmony. I just wish that the songs were a bit more modern. Even with a traditional panto the children would not have really known any of the songs and using more modern ones with changed words would have worked better. Also I felt that the chorus did not really have strong singing voices and could have possibly been helped with microphones. There was also a need for slightly more direction with the chorus, as especially in the skeleton scene, which while excellently lit with U.V., had really too many people on stage thus allowing a very limited space for movement. Using less people would have made that scene even more inventive and clever. Well done to all involved in this production, the hard work paid off and the sounds of the audiences laughter and involvement will have many generations returning to see future productions.
Christine Davidson - NODA

Tonight is the first night of the Blackmore Players production of Night Must Fall

To book tickets please ring 01277 372386.