For those of you that don’t know, a pantomime is a traditional British holiday show that is, ostensibly, for kids but, with the addition of subtly bawdy, over-their-heads jokes, can be enjoyed by parents and grandparents as well.
These shows involve lots of back-and-forth yelling between the cast and audience members and one of the female lead roles is always played by a man, which is always the source of many jokes.
The Bangkok Community Theatre is putting on just such a show this year and they’ve chosen one of the four most iconic British pantomimes, Aladdin, as their vehicle.
In the show, set in Peking, a poor boy named Aladdin falls in love with a princess. In order to be worthy of her love, he leaves his brother, Wishee Washee, and their mother, washerwoman Widow Twankey for an adventure to win a fortune with the help of a genie.
The show started last weekend and completes its run this weekend with performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Petchaburi Road’s Creative Industries @ M Theatre.
Setting the story in Peking, China, the young local and expat cast give it a thoroughly modern feel and make a Coconuts-worthy reference when they joke about things being “worse than a snake in your toilet!”
The Aladdin storyline is also given a modern-era update with the inclusion of pop songs sung by the charming cast. These include: “I Only Want to be With You,” “I Will Survive,” “Holding Out for a Hero” and, of course, “A Whole New World,” from Disney’s version of Aladdin.
In this rendition of Aladdin, the role of Widow Twankey is hilariously played by Michael Allman but his costumes still nearly stole the show. In the opening scene, he’s sporting a headdress made of an item familiar to every Bangkokian: a plastic spinning rack with clips for drying your unmentionables. The rack spins and turns as he shakes his head. In his next appearance, he’s wearing a plastic basket on his head filled with detergents and other washing items. With the addition of heels and headdresses, he towers over the rest of the cast.
The kids in the audience did their part to add to the laughs at the show as well. At one point, Alex Lam, playing the role of Wishee Washy, yelled to the audience, “We need to celebrate, what should we do?” The kids in the theater had some choice ideas, one to our left yelled back, “Give us money!” while one to our right screamed, “Let’s buy a gun!”
Apparently, the holiday spirit is alive and well in these little angels.
The remaining performances are Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are THB950 and THB700 for kids under 13 at the matinees. Tickets include a free drink and a mince pie. Some proceeds benefit Operation Smile Thailand.
Bangkok Community Theatre’s Aladdin
Creative Industries @ M Theatre
Petchaburi Road
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