With its roots stretching back to the eighteenth century, Aladdin has perhaps undergone the greatest transformation of all pantomime titles today. This year’s festive treat from the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre boldly reimagines the narrative, creating a new interpretation of the age-old tale ripe for 2024.
In writer Sonia Jalaly’s Aladdin, usual villain Abanazaar becomes Jasmine’s stepdad, bringing a new resonance to the role and inverting the usual gender binary found in most fairytales’ Wicked Stepmother archetype from Cinderella to Snow White. Whilst Abanazaar still desires the lamp, and only Aladdin can fetch it, the new narrative questions the integrity of inherited authority and wealth and really takes off in the second act when Aladdin and Jasmine find themselves locked back in the cave and must break free together to save the day.
There’s no wedding grand finale at the Lyric, a trend making progress across Pantoland, but there is still plenty of romance, even if the Genie and Widow Twerkey can’t tie the knot whilst husband Idris Elba is still on the scene. The renaming of Twankey as Twerkey not only acknowledges Aladdin’s stage history, but also carefully and cleverly moves the character on and dispenses with its imperial past whilst embracing one of the twenty-first century’s most viral dance moves.
As Twerkey, Emmanuel Akwafo’s brassy and sassy rhythmic Widow lives up to her name, but it is a shame the audience never sees inside the Wishy Washy Launderette, so ripe for anarchy, chaos and pantomime mayhem. Firmly set in Hammersmith, this Aladdin avoids the orientalism of ‘Old Peking’ and remodels the Royal Palace as the ‘Saltbum’ Mansion, cheekily referencing Emerald Fennell’s 2023 hit film, whilst the magical cave is relocated to a mysterious yet magical place that never ceases to entice and inspire: the middle of Lidl with its ever-changing array of treasures each week.
Gloriously camp and conniving, Andrew Pepper’s Shania Twain-obsessed Abanazaar really steals the show, driving the narrative and delivering a case study in how to balance comedy with villainy. A subplot that sees Abanazaar and Twerkey at odds with each other over a 1992 Line Dancing Championship introduces some panto absurdism to proceedings, and a mobile phone offering magical support by ringing three, triple-three for Jodie Jacobs’s warm and welcoming Genie of the Lamp is a witty homographic nod to the dispensed-with Spirit of the Ring.
In the title role, Andre Antonio is full of street and swagger. His Aladdin is afforded much more of a narrative arc, which, post-cave and dripping in gold, sees the character undergo a transformation à la Mother Goose before being confronted by Aleyna Mohanraj’s levelheaded Jasmine, who waves passive princesses of yore well and truly goodbye and is ultimately responsible for ending Abanazaar’s wicked reign, even if we never fully learn how he got there in the first place.
A contemporary playlist ranging from Bruno Mars to Beyoncé helps create a truly electric atmosphere in the auditorium; it’s just a shame that the sound mix hampers so many of the lyrics, which have been specially rewritten.
Whilst some episodes of audience participation, including Twerkey’s search for a new understudy and a sock-throwing competition, stall proceedings somewhat and a little more nuance would go a long way, there’s certainly never a dull moment in director Nicholai La Barrie’s show, which results in a production of pure momentum, endless drive and an awe-inspiring special effect that draws gasps from the audience.
A beacon of imagination, the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre yet again reminds Pantoland that creative reimaginings are what will keep pantomime alive for centuries to come.