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Show: Aladdin
Society: Richmond Theatre (professional)
Venue: Main auditorium
Credits: Jonathan Kiley and Alan McHugh
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 14/12/2017
Aladdin
Chris Abbott | 15 Dec 2017 10:56am
Photo: Craig Sugden
It’s all change for London pantomimes this year, with Qdos taking over as producer at many venues, including Wimbledon, Richmond and the London Palladium. There are quite different pantomime traditions at each of these theatres and it will be interesting to see whether this continues. In recent years, Richmond has developed a very child-friendly tradition, with Chris Jarvis starring and directing, but with a new management has come a new cast.
Christopher Biggins, one of the few Dames to get top billing, is a genial and laid-back Widow Twankey in an Aladdin which is surprisingly traditional; and thankfully cast with stage performers rather than soap opera personalities or US celebrities. Perhaps Biggins based his performance style on the motto on the Richmond pros arch: “To wake the soul with tender strokes of art.”
As is only proper, the show begins with a battle between good and evil in the shape of Issy van Randwyck’s energetic and engaging Slave of the Ring – renamed Scheherazade here although she does not seem to have too much in the way of story-telling duties. It’s a good performance which communicates well and and is an excellent foil to Bob Harms, one of the best Abanazars I have seen. His performance is not only full-throated and committed, he stays in character throughout and is a properly frightening presence for some of the younger audience members.
A.J. Jenks makes his pantomime debut as Aladdin, but does so with a confidence and presence that would have suggested far more experience, and Denquar Chupak does her best with a fairly traditionally-written Princess, although at least the other characters are allowed to look at her so she can be more involved in the narrative than is sometimes the case. Despite this, and through no fault of her own, when the curtain rose on a pretty scene with the Princess and her Handmaidens, the small boy behind me exclaimed, as small boys have done at pantos for generations, “Oh no, she’s going to sing.”
The Genie is a large blue puppet who swings into view at the edge of the pros arch but, disappointingly, is given an American accent, presumably to echo the Disney film, but very much out of place in this traditional production. Far more impressive, especially in this intimate house, is the magic carpet from the ever reliable Twins FX, which greatly impressed the adults sitting near me. It would have been good to see more of the elephant too.
Count Arthur Strong plays the Emperor in his sub-Stanley Unwin persona, the many halting starts and long gaps between lines only sometimes intentional but all causing the pace to flag and the energy to sap whenever he appears, except in 12 Days where he seems more effective. For much of the time, in view of the billing, his scenes are with Biggins, who has a nice line in grotesque costumes and displays them effectively. He is good with the children brought on stage and never less than endearing, but it is a very low-key performance except in some of the routines when he came to life.
Those routines are well directed, however, by Ken Alexander and choreographer Paul Robinson contributes some pacy and acrobatic choreography for the ensemble, who should lose the black wigs, a remnant from the days of Oriental make-up for Aladdin. It was great to see a laundry scene with a trap-door chase as well as a slant on the usual washing machine gags.
The real driving force behind the production, however, is the excellent Wishee Washee of Rikki Jay. East Anglia’s loss is London’s gain as here is someone who understands panto and can deliver with the speed and energy needed to sell the gags and communicate across the footlights (or whatever you call those nasty lights that shine in your eyes at scene changes instead of using a frontcloth). He quickly got the children on his side and amused the adults as well. He handled the obligatory Qdos shopping trolley routine well – groceries here rather than chocolate or DVDs – and it was good to see this rather too ubiquitous routine gently sent up as well.
An encouraging start for the new regime at Richmond then, with some strong performances and a production that looks and sounds good even if it is not quite, as the programme claims, “Everything you could wish for in a panto.”
- : admin
- : 14/12/2017