Aladdin

The Tea Tree Players production of Joshua Dixon’s Aladdin is an absolute delight. It contains virtually every wonderful attribute of classic ‘pantomime’ in the theatrical English-Australian tradition of the Music Hall. With notable exceptions it follows the usual plot of Aladdin, an ‘oriental’ ‘rags-to-riches’ tale.

Steven Brown as Aladdin and Annika Barry as Princess Jasmine are terrific as the romantic leads. It is, however, the ‘clowns’ that dominate this show – and they are hilarious. In the tradition of old English-Australian pantomime there is a fabulous, corpulent and flirtatious Widow Twankey, played with great relish by Tim Cousins, and as the ‘Buttons’ clown figure there is Samuel Creighton being truly wonderful as Wishee Washee, brother of Aladdin (who knew?). I should also add Lachlan Blackwell as Police Constable Ping and Alicia Foster as Police Constable Pong are also marvelous in the respective, numerous and wonderful comic sketches that filter through the plot of this zany world of Aladdin. I also very much enjoyed another invented character, the Spirit of the Ring, played with wonderful, sardonic humour and joy by Rhi Shapcott – fabulous.

The various comic sketches come directly from the world of the old Music Hall and Vaudeville theatrical tradition, and are terrific fun. This includes a version of the classic Abbott and Costello ‘Who’s on First?. This routine, plus the old ‘Broken China’ routine, in which the above-mentioned ‘clowns’ are all wonderful, were highlights for this reviewer – delightful and very funny. The show also has other great classic routines from the theatrical world of pantomime, including the ‘Behind You!’ and the ‘Oh, yes he is! Oh, no, he isn’t!’ banter with the audience.

This show is by and for the local community, and judging by the response of the packed audience of locals last night, including children, they loved it – as did I. This is partly due to the clever wit of Joshua Dixon (playwright) and constantly engaging direction of Damon Hill (director). There were numerous local social and political references, some of which went over my head, but not for the adults in this audience who laughed out loud at the satire. As did the numerous children, particularly when invited onto the stage; the braver ones became a fabulous part of the show.

One young boy was virtually beside himself with excitement during one routine with Wishee Washee (Samuel Creighton) and the Empress (the fabulous Hayley Mitchell). Watching this young boy’s excitement, his passion for theatre ignited, encapsulated for me the true depth, wonder and meaning for this community-based show. I saw myself – from another century in which my passion for the theatre was similarly ignited by a ‘pantomime’, and the thrill of getting up on stage and feeling at home.  This young boy may well be an actor of tomorrow.

The marvelous achievement of Joshua Dixon and Damon Hill is a triumph on numerous levels. It is a thoroughly engaging theatrical re-invention of the classic ‘pantomime’, honouring the tradition and legacy of the past.

The heightened theatricality of the show is enhanced by the excellent scenic design by Damon Hill. It is also has successfully balanced the adult-children components making this truly a show for children as well as adults of all ages. It is also a triumph because it serves to give young people from the local community an opportunity to work and perform in the theatre, thus providing some experience for those who are perhaps the professional actors of tomorrow.

Yes – I could quibble about there being a relatively disturbing element of ‘yellow-washing’ as we transverse magically from ancient China to Egypt; but hey, it’s a ‘pantomime’ – it’s meant to be subversive and burlesque (or parody) contemporary mores, including ‘political correctness’.

This Aladdin isn’t ‘politically correct’ – it is satiric, subversive, and a lot of fun – for all ages.

Tony Knight