Reviews of A New Kind Of Wilderness, The Marching Band, Good One and Magic Farm by MARIA DUARTE, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA
Latest editorial
A panto let down by inconsistent writing and direction
SCOTT ALSWORTH foresees the coming of the smaller, leaner, and class conscious indie studio, with art as its guiding star
MARJORIE MAYO recommends an accessible and unsettling novel that uses a true incident of death in the Channel to raise questions of wider moral responsibility
MIK SABIERS wallows in a night of political punk and funk that fires both barrels at Trump
Reasonable radicalism, death in Abu Dhabi, locked-room romance, and sleuthing in the Blitz
SIMON DUFF recommends a new album from renowned composer and oud player Anour Brahem.
JAMES WALSH has a great night in the company of basketball players, quantum physicists and the exquisite timing of Rosie Jones
Aladdin
Lyric Hammersmith, London
LIKE the proverbial football match of two halves, this patchy panto takes on highly different aspects before and after the interval.
In the section up to the break there’s barely a memorable moment. The custard pie slapstick is limp, the music is uninspiring and the jokes are weak, with some strangely out of date “current affairs” cracks for the adults.
In general there’s little for young or old to get stuck into, especially as it takes far too long to reach the animating point where Aladdin finally goes into the cave to search for his magic lamp. Mulled wine at half-time was a blessed relief.
More from this author
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
PETER MASON applauds a thought-provoking study of the relationship between a grieving woman and her photographer
PETER MASON is moved by a striking production of Noel Streatfeild’s enduringly popular children’s book
PETER MASON reckons the NYT’s production of Shakespeare’s comedy is the pick of the Christmas shows on offer in London
Similar stories
SYLVIA HIKINS rejoices at the confounding of evil property developers in a subversive re-telling of the fairytale
PETER MASON applauds a classic drama exploring assimilation and resistance among poor black inhabitants of a Chigago slum
PETER MASON is unimpressed by an unsubtle production that disregards its woodland setting
PETER MASON questions whether the revival of a play about interracial love in the American south has the strength to speak to contemporary audiences