'Aladdin' review — Emmanuel Akwafo's pantomime dame is an eye-popping vision in this fun festive show

Read our review of Aladdin, now in performances at the Lyric Hammersmith to 5 January 2025.

Just like its magic carpet, Aladdin has once again flown into the Lyric Hammersmith for its beloved pantomime season. Sonia Jalaly and Nicholas La Barrie, the writer/director team behind 2022’s Jack and the Beanstalk, reunite for this year’s festive offering, which once again puts a modern spin on a traditional tale.

The Arabian Nights tale has moved to Hammersmith, with a crooked love story at its centre. Aladdin’s mum, Widow Twerkey, runs the local laundrette, while Jasmine is a princess who stops by in hope of getting a taste of a “normal” life. The rest of the narrative stays the same as the original but is lost under a sea of cover songs and audience participation.

Part of the problem is that the two leads, Andrew Antonio (Aladdin) and Aleyna Mohanraj (Jasmine), lack chemistry and their dialogue feels clunky. Thankfully, in song, they burst into colour. Mohanraj’s vivid, velvety rendition of Olivia Rodrigo’s "Vampire" echoes around the auditorium and sent shivers down my spine.

Jalay’s script zooms in on Aladdin’s class divides – there’s even a reworked version of Pulp’s "Common People". But many of the much-loved panto tropes are lost in the process: there’s barely any innuendo or political commentary. The cave Aladdin finds his magic lamp in, clumsily, becomes a cavity in the middle aisle of Lidl.

There are saving graces, however. Emmanuel Akwafo is as fine a dame as any. Dressed head to toe in sequins with a series of wigs as big and bouncy as an ice cream sundae, he is an eye-popping vision. His physical comedy routines send him rolling, like a stray tennis ball, across Good Teeth’s grandly designed stage. Hammersmith regular Josie Jacobs returns, this time as the Genie, and is just as fantastic as in previous years.

The evening’s highlights come with the gasp-inducing magic tricks, but the dance numbers are let down by a chorus who are unable to keep in time with each other. A shame, as the Lyric Hammersmith’s show is usually one of the Christmas highlights. But, if not quite a panto with all the trimmings, it grants your wish for festive fun.

Aladdin is at the Lyric Hammersmith to 5 January 2025. Book Aladdin tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Aladdin (Photos by Manuel Harlan)