Paul T Davies reviews Aladdin the pantomime at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester.
Antony Stuart Hicks, Dale Superville and Minal Patel in Aladdin. Photo: Marc Brenner Aladdin
4 December 2021
5 Stars
Finally! For the first time in the Mercury Theatre for three years, panto is back!! I hope that, as part of the wonderful redevelopment of the building, they made sure the roof was strengthened, because it’s going to be raised multiple times during the run by delighted audiences that would have been royally entertained by this terrific company! Director Ryan McBryde and writer Andrew Pollard have delivered the best Mercury panto I can remember.
Leonie Spilsbury and the panto chorus. Photo: Marc Brenner
Everyone is in the right frame of mind for this show, from the minute the house lights go down we enter a magical, hilarious and thrilling world. James Hameed is a terrific Aladdin, who attends the “school of rock” and his singing voice justifies that claim, he belts out tune after tune with charisma and confidence. But he doesn’t have it all his own way, this is the best sung Mercury panto ever! Whist I thought Leonie Spilsbury could have made her Fabra Cadabra more of a villain in Act One, by the second half I was booing as loudly as the rest of the audience, and Sasha Latoya is an incredible, sassy, vocally thrilling Genie of the Lamp. We have a glorious Princess Jasmine in the shape of Danielle Kassarate, and Minal Patel gives what little authority that can be given to the proceedings as The Empower of Colchestaria.
James Hasmeed and the panto chorus. Photo: Marc Brenner
But, of course, the Mercury audiences have been eagerly anticipating the return of our favourite double act, Anthony Stuart Hicks -and Dale Superville, and they do not disappoint. As Humphrey the Camel, Dale wins the audience over in a nano-second, his hilarious walk and chewing face being an absolute delight. And- lock up your grown-up sons- Anthony Stuart Hicks’s Widow Twankey has been let off the Covid leash, and she is FAB-U-LOUS!! Tearing onto that stage, be grateful if you’re not her victims in the front rows, she walks the filthy borderline with skill, quipping and improvising till she makes herself corpse!
Antony Stuart Hicks, Marisa Harris and the panto chorus. Photo: Marc Brenner
A big shout out to the design departments who have excelled themselves, especially the wardrobe department, who, for the Dame’s costumes alone, should be showered with every award going. One major highlight is Aladdin’s flight on the back of a guitar, genuinely stunning, and even an elephant makes an appearance! I know there is still a lot of worry around, but I promise you this show will make everything feel better. Judy Garland used to sing, “Forget your troubles, c’mon, get happy.” To achieve that, all you have to do is go and see this laughter-inducing, life-affirming show.
Minal Patel and Daniel Kassarate. Photo: Marc Brenner
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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