Ali Baba and the dastardly financier

Ali Baba (Manoel Theatre) is a ‘traditional panto’ not least in the way it leaves out the most unpleasant elements of the tale on which it is based.

Poor Lawrence Gonzi is a major sufferer, but far from dear Franco Debono gets it in the neck as well- Paul Xuereb

There are no 40 thieves to be scalded to death by a cunning slave girl (there are no slaves in the plot) with boiling oil in large earthenware pots, but the chief villain, one Fażul, known as Prince of Thieves, is far worse in today’s world than all the 40 put together: he is an expert in unscrupulous and shockingly profitable high finance.

The adults in the audience will greatly enjoy booing him, and will be upset solely by the long time it takes for him to meet his come-uppance.

Fażul’s enormous gains are stashed away in the famous cave to which Ali Baba gains entrance by learning to say “Open sesame”, taking away the treasures inside and thus becoming able to marry the beauteous Princess Anisa, the Sultan’s daughter.

Fażul is not only an unscrupulous financier but also a wizard who has graduated from Harry Potter’s Hogwart Academy, and uses his dark art to abduct Anisa on her wedding day.

The rest is all about attempts, failed and finally successful, to defeat Fażul and recover Anisa with the aid of Fairy Late, and, more decisively, with that of the great Dumbledore, the final encounter being in the great hall at Hogwart no less.

As usual, the book pours mild scorn on all sorts of targets, bankers and financiers most of all, but also politicians (poor Lawrence Gonzi is a major sufferer, but far from dear Franco Debono gets it in the neck as well) ; just as inevitably Arriva, which has become a major bore in all satirical writing during 2011, and, thankfully, the pollution of our seabed.

Also as usual, one gets the familiar gay of the very camp sort, in the shape of the Genie of the Lamp, a character imported without apology from Aladdin, played most comically but always with restraint by Luke Farrugia, a young actor who is fast fulfilling the promise of his first performance on the stage a few years ago.

Larry Ponzing’s direction relies heavily on plenty of colourful sets, attractive and grotesque costumes, and lively ensemble scenes, and lively music played by Kris Spiteri’s band.

On the first night when I saw the production the early scenes moved somewhat heavily and the scene changes needed to be slicker, but these faults will no doubt improve with more performances.

The long underwater scene works very well and is notable for one of the most attractive dance numbers choreographed by Emma Loftus.

It is also notable for the best pun of the evening in a line spoken with quiet indignation by Terry Shaw/Wat Sherry’s King Neptune: “With prawns like these, who needs [sea] anemones?” Ironically, the line drew very few laughs.

Pantos, of course, stand or fall according to the skill of their comics, goodies and baddies, and here the casting is very good.

Edward Mercieca’s dame, glorying in the name of Ħelwa tat-Tork Baba, wears an endless series of comically baroque costumes, one of which incorporates a portable kit­chen, is, of course, the traditional panto coarse woman avid for wealth, marriage and sex.

His timing is as good as ever, and he is excellent when dealing with little ones on the stage, but dare I say that he lacks the extravagant comicality of a few years back?

Toni Attard’s Ala B Baba, Ħelwa’s son and Ali Baba’s brother is the ‘Buttons’ character in this panto. It is an energetic performance, and the sight of his slight figure dashing across the stage or ‘swimming’ speedily in an underwater scene is guaranteed to get the laughs.

I thought, however, that he should have been given more, and better, laugh lines.

Steve Hili (Fażul) does very well as the chief baddie. He can grin and grin and be a villain and his voice lingers beautifully on the lines announcing his next dastardly act.

He belongs to the class of very dangerous comic baddies, and the audience sensed this on the first night. His two female underlings are played and sung effectively by Pia Zammit and Chiara Hyzler, but I hope Ali Baba’s double-headed camel does the comic scene with them with more precision in future performances.

As the number two baddie, the Grand Vizier, Louis Cassar growls (sometimes incomprehensibly) to his wife, Dabdaba (Coryse Borg, who adopts the sledgehammer Maltese accent in speaking English) and to his son, Afi, made up as a Gaddafi lookalike (Rudi Catania) while his deep baritone fills the auditorium in his musical numbers.

Luke Mercieca (Ali Baba) and Michaela Fenech (Anisa) make a good couple of romantic comics, and Jo Caruana’s Fairy Late, wearing the charming smile of the habitually unpunctual, wins us over with her apologetically ineffective magic and with her occasional big success.