The Panto at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds is the wonderful world of Arabia as we watch the story of Aladdin with a modern twist, as the writers have been inspired by all the delightful versions that have come before.
We are greeted by Genie who is in The Cave of Wonders, telling us her story and how she awaits for her new master. A pixie-like Genie, in a renaissance outfit and a West Country accent, but it works as Charlie Cameron is a great actress, fun, animated and very good with the children.
In Arabia, the story is set in the Grand Abanaza Hotel which is owned by the mean boss Abanazer. Aladdin and his best mate Washy are Bell Boys at the hotel, trying their best to do all the jobs while Abanazer lazes about shouting and generally being mean. David Djemal is perfectly cast as the baddie Abanazer as his presence on stage commands being a meanie, he plays the character well, scowls at the audience and accepts the loud boo’s with more scowls, and is able to handle everyone complaining about his bad breath. David is also able to hit some fantastic notes when he is in his element.
Sally Swanky is a guest at the hotel but doesn’t have the money to pay for her stay, which leads nicely into the fact she needs to earn her keep by helping in the laundry room – cue the funny, foam scene. It’s a good concept and clever set design with the rollers and the drier being able to shrink clothes… and people.
Of course the main story of Aladdin is there and the set designers have been able to portray Aladdin on his magic flying carpet with great creativity, it is a fresh look at the elements holding it all together, particularly with the jokes, music and dancing.
The song numbers are fun and well placed, there was no feeling of shoe-horning in the song for the sake of it, and any change of words were spot on. They included Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’, Bruno Mars ‘24k Magic’ and Dolly’s ‘9 to 5’. The choreography for the dance numbers were energetic and fun to watch, the young adults in the chorus were wonderful and looked like they were having the best time.
The jokes were funny and many of them, whether it was chickens dancing to Swan Lake, Washy fighting the Palace guard, or the simple one liners, there was laugher all the way through the performance.
A couple of elements I really appreciated from this performance was one: the Dame, well played by Quince Patrick, was not overpowering the rest of the cast, or the story, it all felt so inclusive to showcase everyone’s talents and tell a story. Secondly, it was super family-friendly, I don’t think there was one joke or line that was even too close to the mark, which shows that with clever writing you can be entertaining and funny without offending anyone.
The whole cast were brilliant, even Camilla the Camel. My (non-existent) outstanding performer award goes to Ruby Ablett who plays Washy, is a delightful comedy actress who clearly has a natural talent for making people laugh, she was a joy to watch.
This is most certainly a recommended panto for the whole family who want to share in the magic of theatre this Christmas.
Aladdin is playing at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds from now until 12th January 2025 – click here for more information: https://theatreroyal.org/events/aladdin-panto-2024/
The amazing cast:
Aladdin – Samuel Deghkhadirian
Princess Yasmin – Darcy Manning
Abanazer – David Djemal
Genie – Charlie Cameron
Washy – Ruby Ablett
Camilla (the camel) – Lizzie Buckingham
Sally Swanky – Quinn Patrick
And not forgetting the wonderful chorus.
Photo Credit: Tom Soper Photography.
Aladdin is playing at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds until 12th Jan 2025 – click here for more info.