It’s just not Christmas without panto and this year we were delighted to be invited along to Harrow Arts Centre (HAC) in Harrow, London to watch Aladdin. Following the success of Immersion Theatre’s The Wizard of Oz (2017) and Beauty and the Beast (2018), Harrow Arts Centre are delighted to welcome Prime Pantomimes, a partnership between Immersion Theatre and Selladoor Worldwide to HAC this Christmas.

Aladdin at Harrow Arts Centre, London

Prime Pantomimes make bespoke, high-energy visual feasts packed with audience participation, call and response, music, and West End-standard performances to create unforgettable shared family experiences. With heaps of audience participation, dazzling costumes, spectacular sets, and magical special effects, Aladdin promised to be a GENIE-us pantomime adventure guaranteed to make your family’s festive wishes come true.

It’s been a while since we last went to a panto and we couldn’t wait to go and watch the performance and thought it was a great way to start our Christmas holidays. Everyone knows the story of Aladdin and we were really looking forward to seeing a pantomime version. The show opened with Abanazar and The Spirit of the Ring, and we were soon introduced to PC Pong, Aladdin, Wishy Washy, Widow Twankey, the Genie and the Princess.

The plot was easy to follow and the story was interspersed with plenty of well-known songs. As you would expect with panto there was lots of audience participation which the children enjoyed, especially dodging the water guns! The costumes were lovely, and we loved all the different outfits worn by Widow Twankey – although I admit to covering my children’s eyes when she came out with a cone shaped bra, a la Madonna 1990. The jokes were all perfectly family-friendly and my 9 year just giggled throughout, I had to explain a few of the jokes to my 8 year old!

We’d never been to Harrow Arts Centre before but it was a lovely venue with plenty of parking. We enjoyed a cheeky ice cream from the bar during the interval too!  So join the fun this Christmas and experience Aladdin at Harrow Arts Centre from Saturday 14th – Saturday 28th December 2019. With tickets from £15 and group discounts available, get your tickets now from www.harrowarts.com or call 020 3773 7161 today!

Have you been to a panto this year? Is it part of your family festivities?