Aladdin @ Watford Palace Theatre

Watford’s panto offering this year benefits from a strong cast of highly talented performers, strong musical direction, and clever and inventive design. Re-imagining the story of Aladdin, there are hijinks and a little magic. There are talking animals - the monkey sidekick you expect (an incredible Kate Donnachie) but also a duck (replacing the princess’ confidant tiger), and a frog — not sure of the reason for the frog other than a single (very funny) bit. 

The design really shines, with the lights in particular working extra time to create many magical stage moments. The illusion in particular to create the flying carpet is achieved to outstanding effect.

The script isn’t the greatest, but it is more than made up for by the talented cast, who squeeze every drop of comedy out of it; in particular John Henry Falle as Abanazer the villain is delightful in his improvised banter with the audience. 

Overall a a strong performance supported by great design, which covered for an okay script. 

Cinderella @ Watford Palace Theatre

You might not believe this, given the regular content around here, but we love a panto. When you think about the array of theatre experiences, panto is an entry point for thousands of people; for many kids it is their first experience of the theatre. A panto is silly, irreverent, funny, weird, and wonderful at its best.

This year’s offering from The Watford Palace had an enjoyable premise; riding the current 90’s trend, it sets Cinderella in 1990’s Watford. There are discmans, political references, and a magical furby. Some elements of this work well — the ugly stepsisters as Britney and Xtina (with Xtina in drag) are very funny, if uneven performances. Cinderella as the future popstar bringing future music is great. However the music choices do not consistently fit the theme, and at times the story and performances as a whole flag — the overall slingshot energy of the show through to the end needed work.

Overall though, the children (and lets be honest, most adults) in the audience had a delightful time that will stick with them. And isn’t that the point?