It's quite like old times. After nearly four years of closure for a £7m refurbishment programme, this beloved Victorian theatre is back in business. Bar, foyer and backstage are all much improved but the red-plush auditorium retains its intimate charm. The new Aladdin, with book and lyrics by David Cregan and music by Brian Protheroe, is also in tune with Stratford tradition, in that it puts the emphasis squarely on storytelling and imaginative design.
Cregan starts with Abenazar, played by Protheroe himself with the camp relish of Vincent Price, plotting to use Aladdin to gain the magic lamp and ultimately global power. Mercifully there are no topical allusions, but there are several ingenious twists to an old tale. It's implied that the working-class Aladdin, by falling in love with the Chinese Princess, helps to liberate a stuffy, ossified, peculiarly unhygienic court. There's also more than a hint that Aladdin's weaver mum, a wonderfully gravel-voiced, blue-chinned Michael Bertenshaw, is corrupted by sudden wealth. And at the end there is a salutary reminder that "there's no magic without the magic of another human being".
It's not often these days you see such a narrative-driven panto. But what really gives the show a kick is Jenny Tiramani's striking design. Instead of a front curtain there is a gigantic red Chinese fan that parts to reveal some highly sophisticated images. There's a touch of Brecht's Turandot in the sight of Chinese water-carriers rushing around a revolving stage. And Beckett's Not I comes to mind in the embodiment of the Genie of the Lamp as a large red mouth with glistening white molars: "It's Billie Whitelaw," cried a knowing voice behind me. Strands of suspended roses also neatly evoke the luxury of a Chinese dream palace.
Occasionally I longed for a touch of irrelevant vulgarity. But the children in the audience were audibly delighted, and Kerry Michael's production contains particularly good performances from Kat B as an athletic, hip-hopping Aladdin and from Darlene Johnson as a minor genie magically producing lanterns from the folds of her sleeve. For anyone coming by car, penetrating the circle in which the restored theatre now sits is a bit like getting inside Aladdin's cave; but it's well worth the effort for the sake of the riches within.
· Until January 26. Box office: 020-8534 0310.
