A Perfect Mix
Aladdin at Horsham Capitol Theatre offers two hours of madcap mayhem, dazzling special effects, fantastic music and frankly awful jokes
– in fact the perfect mix for a family pantomime.
Traditional Aladdin? Contemporary? Or both!
As the curtain went up, and the cast introduced themselves one by one, it’s fair to say the audience were served a curve ball – costumes were both traditional and contemporary, and we found boy-next-door Aladdin helping his mum Widow Twankey, – (of whom more later) on her f
ast food stall – in Piries Place!
Evil Estate Agent
We continued to be kept on our toes as the evil wizard introduced himself as an evil estate agent (with a nod to the main sponsors Brock Taylor) bent on world domination by property development. So not too far from reality then! And evil he certainly was, with his growling, fierce persona and frequent “mwah-ha-ha’s” putting a chill in our spines.
Bet Lynch
The only person he didn’t seem to scare was Dame Tamara Twankey, who, in line with the rest of the production, was not your traditional dame. Think more of a Bet Lynch style tart with a heart, complete with the dry wit and put-downs to one and all, including her daughter, the lovable “Thick as a Plankie Frankie.”
Split-personality Genie
Of course with this story still the centre of the action is the Genie – everyone wants their wishes granted. Once again, we’re made to work as our wonderful street-wise, rapping Genie has a split personality – things predictably get a little muddled!
The plot took us from Horsham to Iceland (the country not the shop) via the desert and a cave or three, with lots of audience participation in the form of singalongs, shoutalongs, “it’s behnd-you’s” and, as mentioned before, some truly terrible jokes. Really. The actors also paid respect to the family audience with just a couple of jokes for the adults, but it was all in good taste.
Gloriously Colourful – and recycled!
As an aside, we were told that the gloriously colourful costumes were, for the large part, sourced from charity shops in an effort to not only cut costs but promote a sustainable show. We wouldn’t have guessed, so full marks to the Capitol for that initiative.
Jess Curtis, Costume Designer said: “We worked really hard to ensure this year’s panto was as eco-friendly as possible. Sourcing some of the casts’ costumes from local charity shops was a brilliant way to do this! We had a lot of fun putting together all the different outfits for each of our characters using pre-loved items which makes each of their looks totally unique and it was also brilliant to be able to support local charities in the amazing work that they do. After the show we hope to return anything that we can to charity for re-sale or keep it to use in future productions”
Impressive Special Effects
With impressive special effects, nods to social media, a brilliant four piece band who zip the action along with almost non-stop classic hits and interludes, great action set-pieces and some glorious singing, Horsham’s Capitol have produced a fun-packed modern take on a traditional story. And it is important to stress that this is definitely a home-grown production, completely put together by the Capitol, using seasoned young professionals alongside local youngsters who all played their parts in a wonderful singing and dancing ensemble.
Aladdin is at the Capitol until 31st December 2021 – give yourselves a treat and go!
