Aladdin (tour)
December 18, 2007
Aladdin (touring production)
Away from the glamour of the main theatres is a touring version of Aladdin, playing up to three shows a day at different venues. Entertainments agency Beverley Artistes has employed South Tyneside theatre company KG Productions to write, produce and tour Aladdin around the social clubs of the North East from Northumberland to Teesside.
The production is written and directed by KG’s artistic director Peter Lathan, author of It’s Behind You: The Story of Pantomime, and has a cast of five who play eight parts between them.
This is the first time a lot of the children will experience live theatre and in this show there are all the elements you want in a traditional pantomime, audience participation, slap stick, jokes and songs.
Due to the confines of the stages, the production the set is designed on a series of rotating triangular pedestals. These allow the action to move swiftly from the palace to a cave and Widow Twankeys laundry.
Aladdin is played by Roxanne Barclay, who captures the essence of the character and the attention of the children, as well as the dads in the audience, with her winning smile. Wishee Washee (Iain Cunningham) and his mother Widow Twankey (Wayne Miller) are rarely off stage and make the most of their comedy sketches and build up an excellent rapport with the audience as it is clear they really understand pantomime. While Christina Dawson as Princess Jasmine and Michael Carruthers as Abanazar complete the cast.
With a running time of one and a half hours the production holds the interest of the appreciative audience and provides a welcome alternative to the big, over the top productions. But there is a major difference, as when this Aladdin ends, it is not back to the dressing room for a rest before the next show, it is out of costume for the cast, dismantle the set, pack it up in a van and off to the next venue, Oh Yes It Is!
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