Review: ALADDIN, Beck Theatre Hayes
The Beck Theatre in Hayes has demonstrated over the last few years that it knows its diverse local community, which was fully reflected in the early evening performance of Aladdin, with an audience who laughed along with every local reference from Feltham and Staines to Heathrow and Iver. Given the recent controversy over the future of the venue, it was perhaps a little too pointed for one character to say, “it’s like Hillingdon Council, nobody did anything, nobody says anything” but thankfully the future of this little venue does now seem secure. Even local MP John McDonnell gets a name check!
Indeed, Eric Potts’ script rolls out every classic panto gag including the ‘Right Ho, Right Toe’, ‘Is there a B & Q in Hayesavia, no but there is an H and V’ and host of other corny puns. It is a good introduction to the essence of pantomime to the young audience. There is, of course, a bog standard ‘12 Days of Christmas’, which is always a success with an audience, but the laundry slosh scene and later ‘mangled Simon’ feels somewhat underdeveloped.
We all know the story. Poor Aladdin falls for the Princess and needs to become rich to be allowed to marry her. His opportunity comes when Abanazar asks him to get a lamp from a cave and then traps him in it. When he escapes, Abanazar tricks the Princess into giving him the lamp and whisks them off to another land from which Aladdin rescues her and they all live happily ever after. It is one of the best pantomime stories and thankfully seems to be making a return to the stage this year.
Joe Pollard leads the comedy, like a junior version of Joe Pasquale with his cheeky silly sense of humour that all ages warm to. He has a natural charm and delivers even the most terrible jokes well, as in “Hip Hop is only two letters from a Chip Shop”. However, the Cabinet of Confusion magic trick is a little weak, being neither magical nor funny and simply providing a distraction. Mama G joins him in much of the business and they bring plenty of energy to the stage.
Karim Zeroual shows his skills from the 17th series of Strictly Come Dancing with some elegant smooth dance moves but appears to be lip syncing his first number ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’ due to its high energy movement and we couldn’t hear the words clearly as he flew across the stage on a dimly lit magic carpet. Leonie Wall plays the lovely Princess and comes into her own with her version of ‘Disco Inferno’, which was the best song of the show.
Jason Marc-Williams plays Abanazar (and directs) with evil glee and a wicked cackle, with Nim Odedra doubling up as the Spirit of the Ring (in a gold jumpsuit) and the Genie (in a silver jumpsuit), explains they are twins, which of course leads to gags about never seeing the two mythical beings on stage together.
The handbill describes the shows as “Everything you could wish for in a panto” and judging by the enthusiastic audience reaction, especially amongst the under 10’s, it delivers. For a 600 seat venue in danger of being closed permanently, it is a very good effort and we must hope that the new operator can continue to build on this audience in the years to come and serve this diverse community well.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
Aladdin plays at The Beck Theatre in Hayes until 5 January 2025, with further info here.