Aladdin

The traditional tale of Aladdin and his lamp is one of the most popular themes for Pantomime, children’s plays and musicals in the world, performed under a variety of titles over the years.

The original tale

Although the Middle Eastern folk tale of Aladdin is one of the best known tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights), it was not part of the original Arabic text, but is an 18th century addition to his French translation of the book by the Frenchman Antoine Galland, based on a story he had been told by a Syrian storyteller from Aleppo.

For a summary overview on the origins of this tale, see for example the entry on Aladdin in Wikipedia [1].

Stage adaptations

The tale has been a popular subject for pantomime for over 200 years. For example one of the earliest dramatisations in England was done by John O'Keefe for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1788.

The titles vary greatly, depending on the company, venue, etc.

Among the titles found in South African performances in the 19th century are Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp, Aladdin, or The Wonderful Scamp, Aladdin, or The Wonderful Woman, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.

There have also been a number of straight plays and musicals based on the tale, for instance Adam Oehlenschläger's verse drama Aladdin (1805), The New Aladdin, an Edwardian musical comedy (1906) and a musical comedy version with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter (1958-9), and various versions of Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular, a musical stage production that opened in Disney California Adventure in January 2003.

A number of films and TV versions (both live action and animated), have also been made of the story, the best known today perhaps being the Disney animated version of 1992.

For more see the entry on Aladdin in Wikipedia [2].

South African stage adaptations

The basic story has had many adaptations done by South African authors and directors, including:

Aladdin:Pantomime, by De Wet Lauscher (undated)

An Afrikaans pantomime version of the Aladdin tale, the text published by DALRO, 1969.

Aladdin by John Moss in 1978

Aladdin by Maralin Vanrenen and Ian Ferguson in 1984

A Lad 'n a Lamp by Janice Honeyman in 1988

The title also found as A lad 'n a lamp or A Lad 'n' a Lamp.

The text was first developed by Honeyman in 1988, and performed numerous times since - usually directed by the author herself.

(Among the many other titles using this particular play on words have been A Lad an' a Lamp, a 1932 short film in the The Little Rascals comedy series in the USA; A-Lad-In His Lamp, a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon; A Lad 'n' his Lamp a version of the tale performed directed by Tony Bowman for The Playmakers, an amateur dramatics group based in Mytchett, Surrey in England, in 2012.)

Aladdin (in Sjiena) by Nerina Ferreira in 1994

Aladdin (in Sjiena) ("Aladdin (in China)") is an Afrikaans translation by Nerina Ferreira of Janice Honeyman's A Lad 'n a Lamp.

Performance history in South Africa

In South Africa many versions of the Aladdin story have been done.

Among them:

1861: Performed in the new Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Sefton Parry company as Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp: presented on 14 October with Ici on Parle Français (Williams). The cast included Mrs Tellet, Mrs Parry, ; and had Mr Bland as stage-mamnger. It was reportedly a spectacular presentation and clearly popular, for it eventually played for five nights, each time as afterpiece to a different main play.

1861: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Sefton Parry company on 15 October with The Postboy (Craven ),

1861: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Sefton Parry company on 17 October with Family Jars (Lunn), on 21 October with An Alarming Sacrifice (Buckstone) and

1861: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Sefton Parry company for the final time on 24 October with Your Life's in Danger (). This performance was given as benefit for the scenic artist Richard Cooper.

1919: Produced as Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, with Thomas Pauncefort and Dan Thomas, at His Majesty's Theatre in Johannesburg.

1945: Produced as Aladdin by Philip D. Levard for African Consolidated Theatres in the Empire Theatre and at the Alhambra Theatre in 1945, featuring Ivy Tresmand, Harry Hambleton and Neil McKay);

1978: Produced as Aladdin, written and produced by John Moss for NAPAC at the Alhambra Theatre Durban from 7 December 1978;

1984: Produced at the Baxter Theatre as ** , directed by Maralin Vanrenen who co-wrote the script with Ian Ferguson, with what they called "a Cape flavor". The cast included Dale Cutts, Charles Comyn, Adrienne Pearce, Peter Krummeck, Jennifer Ferguson, Peter Butler, Mike Chase and others . Marilyn Taylor’s musical band supplied the music.

1986: Produced by Joyce Levinsohn and Jill Gerard at the Intimate Theatre in 1986;

1988: Produced as A Lad 'n a Lamp (?) by PACT in the State Theatre Pretoria. Directed by Janice Honeyman, assisted by André Odendaal, with Robert Finlayson, Jenny de Lenta, Michael Richard, Bruce Alexander, Jeremy Taylor, Lisa Bobbert, Dorrit Rothschild, John Lesley, Kate Edwards, Neville Thomas, Christine Weir, Melinda Ferguson, Lisa Melman, Zane Meas, Rodney-Mark Venner, Shireen Hollier, Lauren Sherwood, Steven Breger, Bev Elgie, Lulu Tshoeula, Glenn Swart, André Odendaal, Nomsa Nene. Designed by Frances Michaletos, musical direction by Didi Kriel, choreography by Jennie Reznek and lighting design by Nic Michaletos.