Irish Times critics review The Further Adventures of Sindbad at the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Dublin and Aladdin at Amharclann na Carraige in Belfast

The Further Adventures of Sindbad
Lambert Puppet Theatre

It's really Christmas the whole year round at Lamberts, with a succession of colourful puppet pantos. But there is a special atmosphere about their current production, partly because the audiences bring with them a seasonal enthusiasm, and partly because the company seems to have invested a little more magic in it.

Host Eugene opens the proceedings with his traditional knockabout joustings with dog Judge and Mr Crow. Then it's on with the main event, a creative version of Sindbad, the sailor from the Arabian Nights. We meet him in a colourful town noted for its happy people, the secret of which lies in a magic crystal set on top of a tall tower. It is coveted by the evil Bebad, supported by his comic assistant, Snapper the crocodile.

The storyline is a simple one. Bebad steals the crystal and flees, pursued by Sindbad, who recovers it. The baddie then kidnaps Sindbad's beloved Princess, and holds her hostage against surrender of the crystal. After a host of adventures, the crystal is restored to its rightful place, Bebad is deprived of his powers and then everyone is happy again.

So far, so standard, but an array of colourful set-pieces lifts the story out of the ordinary. A storm at sea, a giant octopus and a voracious shark keep the children on their toes. Then there is a forest scene with a host of playful monkeys doing acrobatics in the trees, followed by a raging forest fire. Sinbad climbs perilous cliffs to find a giant bird at the top, and is borne in its clutches to the sinister cave home of Bebad, where the plot reaches its climax. It is breathless stuff, offered with manifest mastery of the medium; a very good one.

Gerry Colgan

Aladdin
Amharclann na Carraige, Belfast

With its usual uncanny ability to connect directly with its community, DubbelJoint has, for the first time, gone down the panto road and returned the art form to its earliest and most traditional roots. It seems as though almost every man, woman, child and animal in west Belfast has had a hand in the creation of this joyously chaotic show, where there is as much merriment and carry-on in the audience as on stage.

True to form, director Pam Brighton has come up with no mere rehashing of an old story. This rehashing has been at the hands of no less a literary figure than poet Adrian Mitchell, whose wild and wacky version proved too off-the-wall for the American theatre, which commissioned it. The significance of this world premiere was borne out by the galaxy of starry names - Mitchell included - squeezed onto wobbly chairs and lapping up the madness of the evening.

Brighton has assembled a cast of excellent actors, among them Scottish comic Kenny Ireland as the dame, Tony Devlin from Band of Brothers fame, Tara Lynn O'Neill as Aladdin, the talented Seanin Brennan and Kevin Elliott as the happy couple Wishy Washy and Lotus Blossom and, most memorable of all, Vincent Higgins as the villain Adam Azzar - portrayed as a scheming Englishman and appearing disturbingly comfortable in safari shorts and pith helmet.

Jane Coyle