Theatre Review of the Festive Adult Production by City Theatre - “The Scouse Genie.”

RUNNING at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre, from:- 29 November to 2 December 2023, was the latest production by Liverpool’s City Theatre, called:- "The Scouse Genie.” The play was based loosely on the characters and story Aladdin, giving this panto a brand new lease of life to the traditional story. If you attended this show, you would have found that this reboot version was something you wouldn't have seen before. It was based in Liverpool, England and the story centres on 5 main characters, and the main cast members are all extremely funny with the delivery of the script, which is adult but doesn’t push the boundaries too far. Do not expect the traditional:- “it's behind you,” but well be told, anyone who doesn’t turn the mobile off, as on the first night, when we watched the show, a phone went off and the cast quickly made it into a joke for the rest of the night. This is something you expect from pantomime, and it is refreshing to see audience interaction with the cast, and good ab lib work by the cast members,

The story is a simple idea, that is not overly complicated, but well thought out and easy to follow. It starts with an encounter and ends on a high. Just what you require from a panto. It is packed full of jokes, but not too many that spoil the show, and many of the jokes form part of the main storyline...  If you are a TV or film censer, this play would hit the 15-certificate mark if moved onto the TV.

At times the plot line led to some issues as the set lacked many props and backgrounds, that you expect from bigger budget performances. This was more down to the Theatre not having a back stage area or sides to allow for storage of sets, and this  lead to a few awkward looking sections that had cast members are miming actions out, like pretending to drink, but that is being very nitpicky. Also, singing was a major issue, as with many of Barry Levy's productions, it tends to let the side down and sadly this also was an issue with this play. But thankfully, this was not a musical and we can overlook this, but we do think it should be addressed for future productions.

So what was the story?  Well it starts with the main 3 characters meeting after a disco, with 2 of them hiding something from the other. What could that be? As the play moves on we find out that the 2 who where hiding things happened to be the Prince and Princes. They are told to close down the venue owned by the Mother of the newly found love of the Prince. We are also introduced to the villain who is searching for a special lamp and forces both Haribo and her friend into finding it for him. Skipping on a bit, Haribo finds the lamp and releases Zola 'the spirit of the ring,' The Scouse Genie's assistant. It them progresses on with wishes being granted and the usual format of the Aladdin script, but with Zola taking more of a lead than the Genie. And as with all good panto's the end sees the bad getting punished and the good winning.

5 out of 5
Popcorn Kernels

Overall this is a very well-polished and thought-out performance with good use of the stage and the environment, which also included the cast going into the audience…

The show was directed by one of the main cast members, Shannon Griffiths, playing Haribo. Normally this can be a recipe for disaster, but she and the cast perform extremely well together and if you didn’t read the extremely professional-looking program, you might not know she is the director as well as one of the main characters.

It was also interesting to see how popular this show was, with both Friday and Saturday selling out, and the others near to full capacity as well.

We give this stage show a fantastic:- 5 out of 5 popcorn kernels!

In short - A strong performance by all the cast to deliver a very entertaining night out. 100% recommended, but only if you are aged 18 or upwards…

Other cast members:-

Aria - Sasha-Louise Williams

Princess Cara - Abi Tyrer

Prince Jay - Jamie Gallagher

Liver Bird - Graham Lyne

Timothy - Johnny Sedgwick-Davies

Stacey - Ellie Dawes

The empress' Sapphire - Libbie Cowburn

Troy - Scott Lewis

The Scouse Genie - Lexi King

Zola 'the spirit of the ring' - Chloe Gratton

Scarr Quinn - Matthew Hanlon

Dancer - Hannah Edwards

Production team:-

Writer and Producer - Barry Levy

Director - Shannon Griffiths (playing Haribo)

Creative Director - Abi Tyrer

Assistant Choreographer - Sasha-Louise Williams

Stage Manager - Joe Gordon

Lights and sound - Jon Cliff

PR Photographer - Hanna Price

Program and Design - Main Event Agency

We have more photos from this event on the next page as well...  If we went to this show, please let us know your thoughts about the plot and acting?  Do you agree with out review? Please have your say by emailing our Newsroom at:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com or send us a message on:- Mastodon, Facebook, or Twitter.

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