ALADDIN written by Dafs Cocks-Evans & Jane Martin Directed by John Cocks-Evans, Damien Cullen & James Shawcross Guide Bridge Theatre To enter a foyer of any theatre and hear the auditorium buzzing with excitement, immediately puts a smile on one’s face. It brings home the fact that Pantomime Season is here and that the public want to be entertained, people of all ages want to smile and laugh and enjoy themselves. As we all know, the expectation for pantomime is that a story is told and the audience is invited not just to sit and listen but engage and interact with the actors, to boo the baddies and cheer on the goodies. This is a skill that has to be learnt by those controlling the action from on stage, and can be daunting for seasoned actors who have practised their craft for years. The actors rose to this challenge admirably and did all that was expected of them with assured confidence. They had a belief in their production, obviously brought about through their rehearsals with their directors, and confidently told the story of Aladdin. This was an in-house written script and contained the story arc of Aladdin. Most of the scenes were short and connected through a song and dance. This did mean that there was only brief opportunity for characters to establish themselves fully with the audience, and engage in the call and response sections, though it did contain these. The evil Abanazar, Matt Berry, was great as the baddie that we could all boo and hiss and he actively encouraged us all to do this, sneering his way through his lines but with an engaging smirk. He confidently exaggerated his moves and projected his voice for all to hear. He commanded the stage and captured the attention of the audience whenever he was on. For every baddie there is a goody and Jeanette (Genie of the Ring), Damien Cullen totally owned this part and was very engaging. Although not on for large parts of the pantomime he gave a confident and enigmatic performance. His movements were big and bold, and the giggle was so
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