ALADDIN DOWNHAM DRAMA SOCIETY DOWNHAM TOWN HALL
LAST year’s Sinbad at Downham was amongst the best panto of the season and I had high hopes for this production.
Aladdin is increasingly well-known and subject to surprisingly little variation.
Widow Twanky owns a laundry, her son Aladdin loves the princess and evil Abanazar knows where there is a cave full of jewels and a tatty lamp that contains a powerful genie.
Only a boy with a pure hart can enter the cave and he knows just the boy for the job.
Throw in a Slave of the Ring, a comic lead called Wishee Washee and the scene is set for bad deed doing and ultimately a happy ending.
This was a very young cast with most of the leads looking like they were under 20.
The script (although not the worst I have seen) was a little short of jokes.
The set was courtesy of Pete Duhig, James Chalkley and Sam Hurst and did the job well as did the appropriate lighting by Shaun Jones and James Williams.
The mixture of live keyboard and recorded music was a little distracting which is no reflection on competent accompanist Meg Harrison.
The chorus was a minimalist affair and most of the dancing was executed by a small team of young ladies.
The choreography by Kerry Eburah was simple and did the job, although it looked like a little more rehearsal might have been useful.
There were worthwhile contributions from Sharon Wiseman (Slave Of The Ring), Samuel Beattie (genie) and amusing cameos from Sam Hurst as Del Boi (Emperor of China) and Pete Duhig as Postman Pat. A lot of effort for one gag but it was a good one.
There were solid performances from Arielle Daly as Princes Buddleia and Beth Wright as hand maiden Su Doku. One rather raunchy dance routine certainly warmed up the auditorium and no shortage of enthusiasm from Jack Hurst in the title role.
Evangeline Page looked good as Wishee, oozed warmth and was surefooted throughout. Such a shame she had so few gags. Dame Robert Hornette gave a confident performance and worked well with the audience.
Up to here, this was a six out of ten, not too bad a production for this society . . . and then there was Anthony Maley. The script gave him nothing, the director (Cath Duhig) gave him a great costume and mercifully he brought along a bucket full of pantomime talent.
Mr Maley quite simply stole the show with a virtuoso performance that remained under control throughout.
My compliments to Cath and assistant Bex Reed for a good night’s entertainment.
Stephen Hayter
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Weather for King's Lynn
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
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