Theatre reviews: Aladdin at the Macrobert | Aganeza Scrooge at the Tron, Glasgow | Aladdin at Perth Theatre

Impressive young performers play a key role in pantos in Stirling and Perth this year, writes Joyce McMillan

Aladdin, Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling *****

Aganeza Scrooge, Tron Theatre, Glasgow ****

Aladdin, Perth Theatre ****

Aladdin at Perth Theatre PIC: Mihaela Bodlovic

Pantomime is an explosively complex art-form at any time, and at the Macrobert in Stirling there are always extra layers of complexity, in the form of thanks to multiple teams of young performers from the theatre’s youth groups, often playing vital roles in the drama.

The Macrobert also has one priceless asset: Scotland’s inimitable panto king Johnny McKnight, whose creative commitment to the Macrobert show now stretches back almost 20 years; and at the Macbob this festive season, lucky audiences have the chance to experience McKnight at the height of his powers, not only back on stage in Stirling for the first time in four years, but also writing, directing and shaping the show in magnificent style.

In this new version of the Aladdin story, McKnight plays dame Marge McTwank, a gorgeous creature of uncertain years who runs a laundry with her two daughters, the lovely Aladdin – played with tremendous wide-eyed poise and humour by Betty Valencia – and Aladdin’s daft wee sister Wiz-She-Was-She (a hilarious Helen McAlpine).

Add Robert Jack as a preening but inept Demon King, the fabulous Amy Conachan as the genie, Dylan Wood as the smug but good-hearted Prince who is Aladdin’s true love, and some tremendous work as assorted demons and retainers from two alternating young casts impressively directed and choreographed by Jennifer Dick and Stephanie Fulton, and you have one of the finest panto casts in Scotland; all enjoying every minute of a riotous and brilliantly crafted show that delivers all the heart-warming Christmas joy and fun an audience could possibly need.

Aganeza Scrooge at the Tron PIC: Eoin Carey

The McKnight genius is also on view at the Tron in Glasgow, where Sally Reid directs a fine updated version of McKnight’s 2014 Christmas hit Aganeza Scrooge, a version of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol set around the 21st century Trongate. This time around, brilliant stage comedian Louise McCarthy leads the cast as Aganeza, a self-made Glasgow rich woman with nasty attitudes to those she has left behind in her mad dash for wealth and power.

And if the hard-faced Aganeza’s eventual conversion to a kinder way of life stretches credibility a little, the show is so brilliantly delivered by a six-strong company that also includes Julie Wilson Nimmo, Jamie Marie Leary, and Kyle Gardiner – and designed with such dazzling wit by the inimitable Kenny Miller – that no-one cares at all. As McCarthy delivers a beautiful final version of the McKnight panto anthem All I Want for Christmas Is You, the theatre explodes in applause.

At Perth, writer, director and dame Barrie Hunter comes up trumps again, with a new Perthshire version of Aladdin that is already, in box office terms, Perth’s most popular panto ever.

Set in and around Killiecrankie, this Aladdin swaps the traditional romance for an ecological thriller plot in which village lad Aladdin McTwankie, son of local washerwoman Margarita McTwankie, falls prey to the vile schemes of Countess Abi McKrankie, who lives in the big hoose at the sign of the crossed chainsaws, and wants to mow down the local forest in search of a cave containing untold riches.

If truth be told, the plot has its illogical moments and over-complexities. Yet the whole yarn is carried off in impressive style by the indispensable Helen Logan as the wicked countess, Hunter himself as Dame McTwankie, and Tiger Mitchell as Aladdin, with Ewan Somers as his country-and-western loving brother Hank.

Like the Macrobert panto, this show also benefits from some outstanding work from young teams of performers playing chorus members and friendly red squirrels; and the show romps to an end in glorious festive style, as Hunter continues to explore the idea of the 21st century eco-panto, in ever more interesting ways.

Aladdin (Macrobert Arts Centre) until 31 December; Aganeza Scrooge until7 January; Aladdin (Perth Theatre) until 31 December