The excitement in the hall was evident as we were shown to our seats for Eyemouth & District Community Youth Theatre Group’s production of “Aladdin” by the welcoming front of house team. Oh how we have missed our chance to see their annual show and join as a community to laugh, clap, boo and hiss! Abanazar (Monty McNeil) was perfectly cast as the evil wizard and from the get-go had the children in the audience booing. He was accompanied by his assistant Ganoush (Stuart Haddow) who was clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer. We were also introduced to the feisty Spirit of the Ring (Sophie Crowe) who handled the tricky rhymes with ease. Off we then went to Peking and the cutest chorus I have seen in a long time. Their rousing opening number of “Best Song Ever” made me want to get up and dance and gave the perfect entrance for Aladdin. Aladdin was played by Kayla Aitchison who had an excellent stage presence, pleasing diction and a lovely singing voice. The arrival of Wishee Washee (Josh Campion) provided us with a loveable rogue whose comic entrances had the whole audience joining in. Which brings me to Widow Twankey (Andrew Calder) who played the character with such a seasoned ease I was astonished to hear this was his first time as dame. The two Peking policemen, Hu-Dun-Pong (Aaron Allan) & Yu-Dun-Wong (Sebastian Aitchison), were perfectly matched and faultlessly kept us entertained with their antics. The Emporer (Kenny Combe) had a commanding stage presence and was delighted to be granted his wish in the form of The Temptress (Dawn Matthews). Princess Mandarin (Holly Drummond-Cowe) was a delightful princess beautifully supported by So-Shy (Emily Brunton) and their duet was particularly pleasing. The show had a very small but able executioner (Micah Davie) who also played “mini Wishee” with great comedy timing. In a beautiful cave The Genie (Cameron Haddow) entertained us with the nicely choreographed “Friend like Me” and lovely diction. The main dancers (Eilidh Oliver, Carly Robertson & Courtney White) showed great talent in the big numbers ably assisted on occasion by Kaylin Davie, Abigail Potts, Lily Pringle, Kelsey Shell & Flora Sidney. The chorus (Sonny Cowe-Lough, Katie Crowe, Caleb Davie, Kaylin Davie, Mia Hind-Haugh, Aiden McNaughton, Declan McNaughton, Dawn Matthews, Abigail Potts, Lily Pringle, Kelsey Shell, Flora Sidney, Iona Walker, Maci Walker, Ruby Walker, Danni Windram and Maci Windram) supported well and handled some very quick costume changes. The choreography was excellent, the songs well chosen and the scene changes slick. The spectacle was added to with fantastic backdrops and the costumes were absolutely stunning. All the cast were well rehearsed and I’m sure the production team were delighted and proud of the show and rightly so. Can’t wait for next year! Well done everyone! M.P.
