Act 1

1. The courtyard of Emperor Chopsuey's palace in Pekin
2. At Radio Rick Shaw's Hire Service
3. In Widow Twankey's Laundry
4. A path in the mountains near Pekin
5. In the gloomy cave

Act 2

1. The Flied Lice Inn, a Chinese take-away restuarant
2. The street of a thousand chopsticks
3. The room of My Mummy in the Great Pyramid of Egypt
4. The path back to Pekin
5. The courtyard festivities

Review

The Archer, East Finchley's community newspaper, printed a review on page 11 of the January 2009 issue.

Strictly panto

by Daphne Chamberlain

"Pantomime is back for another season. Well, what can we say? Amazing costumes, oodles of energy. Doddery it was not! The Guild Players presented Aladdin as their Christmas show, and we all loved it.
This was a show in strictly panto tradition, with all the usual over-the-top characters, evoking ecstatic grins on the faces of some small boys in my row, and the classic question overheard in the interval, "But why is he a girl?"

Keeping all ages happy

I went to the matinee, when many children were present, and the audience participation was whole-hearted. The show kept a good balance between pleasing both adults and children, and the entire cast should be congratulated on the way they drew the audience in.
This is sometimes difficult to do when the audience is very close, and when a lot of them know the performers, but the actors were excellent. So was the three-piece band, though it seemed a shame that the actor with the most impressive voice (the villain, Abanazer) didn't have more to sing. Full marks, though, for avoiding the love duets, which usually seem so tiresome to a child.
The show built to a lively climax. In the words of their last song, they finished on top, and those costumes were fabulous.
The Guild Players rehearse and perform at Ballards Lane Methodist Church, N3. For more details about this established company, who put on several shows a year, visit www.guildplayers.org.uk"