ABSTRACT
During the 2012–13 and 2013–14 Christmas seasons, I attended eight different British pantomime productions of Aladdin presented at theatre venues in London and towns near London. 1 All the Aladdin pantomimes I saw are set in China and depict Aladdin as a carefree Chinese boy living with his mother Widow Twankey, who operates a laundry, and his younger brother Wishee-Washee; they are denizens of the city of Peking. At these performances, I join excited children and their adult companions, who throng the packed theatre houses. Rarely have I experienced such electrifying energy in a theatre audience; young and old alike develop an intimate and reciprocal bond with the performers on stage. The audience members knowingly and loudly boo and hiss the villain, the African magician Abanazar, as soon as he enters the stage, scream to direct Aladdin to the magic lamp and exhort him to rub it to escape from the cave in which he is trapped, loudly shout “No!” when asked if the Chinese princess Jasmine should exchange the magic lamp for the new ones offered by the disguised Abanazar, and participate in sing-alongs and dance-alongs at their seats during the performance and the post-performance singing contest, the latter of which is designed especially for the younger ones, who are awarded with goodie bags for their efforts at the end of the contest. Toys and souvenir programs are sold at concession counters decorated as “Peking Stores”; the holiday atmosphere is exuberant and festive.
