The Wight Island Players brought a slice of Arabian Nights to Bembridge Village Hall with their recent pantomime “Aladdin”.

Using a Chinese inspired costume pallet, the director Anna Shiner set the little story in the street of a thousand goldfish, aka Old Peking, the village hall impressively transformed with some beautifully painted backdrops and impressive costumes that showed the eastern flavour this fun story embodies.

Tamara Rush confidently portrayed Aladdin against the evil machinations of the sneeringly very watchable Abanazar played by John Poerscout-Edgerton. Andy Hough was an enjoyably deadpan Widow Twanky and Tom Spicer as Wishee Washee engaged the audience with his warm personality. Keith Partington cut an impressive figure as the Emperor of China, with whom the cry of “CLEAR THE STREETS” and the crackle of his gramophone, would proceed him wherever he went. 

Lyn Corby and Val Michalski were the somewhat predictably hapless police constables PC Ping and Pong. Teri Harris and Heather Austin filled in with smaller roles as the Slave of the Ring and Genie who helped Aladdin get the riches he deserved. That being the beautiful Princess So-Shi (Trudie Wilson confidently belting out her song with aplomb).

The young chorus bravely tackled the choreography, and really showed off the strong feelings of community and of all ages working together that the group clearly has. Susan Raybould provided music and sound effects for the show via her keyboard, always a plus when the actors perform to live music. Hopefully the group can further add to this musical element for the future!

The funniest moments came from a lively crowd interacting with the performers, a welcome sight to see in panto, it really lifted the atmosphere at key points where perhaps the pace was dipping. It also allowed the actors some freedom to ad-lib and lift an at times slightly functional script to an enjoyable level. 

Overall a lovely evening spent in Bembridge, with a local community having fun with each other and working together to create a magical experience for the children in the audience. They really did make a “Whole New World” on that tiny stage.

A well done to all involved.