Over the past few years the team at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern have perfected the art of the panto in the pub and this year’s offering, Rubbed, is another excellent example of the genre.
Rubbed, is their take on Aladdin, but the story, in a fast paced and witty script by Paul Joseph and Tim Bennie is more of a sequel to the classic panto than just an adult reworking. In this story, set sometime after the incident with the lamp, cave of wonders and all that Disneyfied stuff, Aladdin, played as a posh gay knob by Alan Hunter lives in Monaco with Widow Twanky, Robert McNeilly in classic bawdy Dame mode, while back in London Land, Genie played beautifully by Topsie Redfern is in danger of having her lamp repossessed by Abanazar played properly OTT by Richard Watkins. The cast is finished off brilliantly by Faye Reeves who plays the Slave of the Ring and quite a few other characters. Under the careful guidance of Director Tim McArthur all the traditional panto elements are here, every character gets their own catch phrases and songs, the jokes come thick and fast and are as topical as you’d expect.
Don’t come to see Rubbed expecting anything resembling sets and stage magic, or big production numbers, what’s on offer here is a couple of hours of self deprecating fun delivered in great comic style in a much loved venue. Dave Cross
****
Runs until 3 January
Tickets at vauxhalltavern.com
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