This is a show that puts its cards on the table pretty early. The loud, fast paced, clearly defined approach sets out to take everyone one a rollicking good ride, but the production needs to stand back and invest in a tad more charm and subtlety. Only then will it find the platform on which this particular magic carpet can take flight.

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The script feels clunky. The protagonists suffer from a strange disconnect. All the elements are here, Chris Carswell and Natasha Jayetileke play Aladdin and Princess Jasmine adequately enough, but have yet to find the key to their romance. A one dimensional dynamic means a lack of narrative cohesion and involvement. The opening number of Act II is energetically performed by Paul Harper-Swan's Genie and ensemble, but is not relevant to the story. The laundry scene flashes by with a tired familiarity.

It is only in the moments when Simon Aylin's direction gives the players space to breathe that their spontaneity makes events come alive. The rendition of The Twelve days of Christmas is a great crowd-pleaser and Karl Moffatt's Abanazar does wicked sexiness with the best of them.

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However it is Mark Jones's skilful sing-along comedy set with the kids that finally brings some of the magic on which the best form of pantomime thrives.