Review: Aladdin at York Theatre Royal

Saturday, 7th December 2024 at York Theatre Royal

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Panto season has descended upon York once more, and York Theatre Royal’s offering this year is a bouncy production of Aladdin.

Paul Hendy pens this version of the tale, with Juliet Forster directing. The whole thing is placed in central York, where Aladdin (Sario Solomon) seeks love, and Princess Jasmine (Emily Tang) seeks freedom – all while the likes of PC World (the always fabulously entertaining Rowan Armitt-Brewster) monitor the Shambles seeking wayward behaviour like y’know, laughter and joy… Solomon and Tang are a sound pairing, with both bringing an earnest energy and great vocals to the tale, giving us a love we can root for amidst generous pop song interludes (Musical Director: Edwin Gray).

This Aladdin is afforded an energetic sidekick in his brother Charlie (a very jolly Tommy Carmichael) and a very entertaining mother in the shape Dame Dolly (the fab, fun-lovin’, knee-slappin’ Robin Simpson). Regardless of such good company, poor and seeking a fortune to allow him to marry, Aladdin inevitably crosses paths with the villainous Ivan Tobebooed (the devilishly tongue-in-cheek Paul Hawkyard) who seeks nothing more than to exploit his naive nephew to get his hands on the lamp – domain of cheeky sprite, The Spirit of the Ring (a lively, mischievous Evie Pickerill). 

Set and costume from Morgan Brind gives classic pantoland glitter and bold colour throughout, hovering between cartoonish backdrops and grand visuals. Morgan Brind and Michael J Batchelor’s Dame costumes give Simpson as much scope as ever to glitter and be gay for us – never missing an opportunity to showcase the quirky details of each get-up, and there’s generally plenty to entertain when it comes to flying carpet illusions, giant mummies (yes, in Aladdin – they’ve always been right there…) and giant elephants. 

While there’s a definite sense of padding and tangents that grows as Act 2 develops, this is a great show. It’s fun to see modern and traditional go hand and, as I think Aladdin is one of the most difficult pantos to stage, all credit to the team behind this show – it’s a fab few hours of entertainment.

Aladdin is at York Theatre Royal until January 5th 2025 – more information and tickets can be found here.