In their home base, NWTAC (North West Theatre Arts Company), started a short run of their traditional family pantomime, Aladdin, this afternoon, to a very enthusiastic audience.
This was a truly fun show. They had a bit of an uninspiring and shaky start (totally forgiveable on a first performance), but once they got into their stride, the laughter hardly ever stopped. A true community feel was omnipresent, as the rapport between cast and audience was just about as visceral as theatre can be. The audience wanted to be entertained, the cast were totally immersed and enjoying themselves, and the audience were fully invested; the whole was infectious, and we all went away with huge grins on our faces.
Also, let me state right now, this was the most traditional pantomime I have seen for several seasons.. congratulations! We had a Principal Boy (not seen that in a panto for a very long time), and we had a comedy double-act (again, something of a rarity these days), a comedy chase around the audience, and plenty of slapstick!... and they stuck to the story without deviation (hesitation or repitition!).
The pantomime cast was a diverse one, mixing professional actors with young students of the NWTAC Theatre School, giving them an opportunity few aspiring actors / actresses get. But that was where this company had got it so right. Pantomime isn't a grand and pompous artform (although it IS an artform), but in all honesty, panto doesn't work for me in the gandiose settings of the world's greatest theatres; panto is much more grassroots than that, and using local children and young adults, in a local theatre school, for the local residents to enjoy is the key to this genre's success.
The stage is small and I imagine very little room to manoeuvre backstage, and so the company used the space excellently, providing an array of colourful sets / cloths for each scene, and the costumes in general were also of a high standard. I think the lighting could perhaps have been a little more adventurous, but the "magic" used to make the Genie appear from the lamp was quite effective. The sound levels were generally good for the speaking, but we would have benefitted from the singers' voices being amplified more on several occasions.
The adult professionals in the show were; a rather too likeable Abanazer [even when we were told not to boo him, we were laughing at the same time as booing], played by Anthony Horricks. A personable actor but a little more malevolence wouldn't have gone amiss. Prab Singh (who was also the director) played Dame Widow Twankey, his characterisation being of the traditional kind of man-in-a-dress comedy [think Les Dawson or Bernard Manning], only he made this role completely his own and it worked superbly for him; and a very large, tall and looming James Burke, as one half of the comedy police duo, Tok. Working superbly with a diminutive and youthful Tok (Katie Gough - who also choreographed the show). Together providing much of the slapstick humour and comedy routines.
The students / young people in the show were, Elton Amoateng as Wishee-Washee: a lovely clear voice and great stage presence from Amoateng, dashing around the stage being the foil for everyone else's prangs. Paige Garth playing the role of Aladdin very much in the traditional manner, and along with Lois Ormerod as Princesse Jasmine, they worked excellently together, and their harmonies in the two songs they harmonised in were lovely. Milly Potts completed the principals as a rather resigned-to-her-fate Genie Of The Lamp. Three further young ensemble / dancers completed the cast; and these were Halle Kerley, Gareth Maudsley, and Lisa Saruzi;.and all of these youths showed considerable skill, passion and commitment, bringing about the success of the show
The script was full of gags, classic pantomime set routines and banter, some lovely audience interaction, as well as a few clever "updates" using mobile phones and a very caustic Alexa with attitude! The whole was directed by Prab Singh, and the energy levels and the commitment from all was not just amazing but also inspiring. Looking around the audience of families with preteens, it was an abolsute joy to watch this computer-gizmo-TV-instagram-fashion-gaming-mobilephone-generation being transported back to a type of tradiitonal Christmas entertainment I remember with affection from my childhood. What a great way to end my pantomime reviews for this year!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 22.12.21
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 22.12.21
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