AUDIENCES at Salisbury Playhouse will be transported to ancient Peking from Saturday when its Christmas panto Aladdin gets underway.

The ancient and magical tale sees a laundry woman’s son ending up with a princess.

Richard Ede whose stage credits include Horrible Histories and The 39 Steps, plays the pantomime dame Widow Twanky and he says the show contains plenty of laughs and lots of singing and dancing.

“I think every pantomime adds its own twists on the original tale. We have a magic carpet and we have two genies - one of the lamp and one of the ring, it’s a very magical show.

“Pantomime is huge fun. It is quite dangerous theatre, literally physically dangerous and that gives the audience the sense that anything can happen at any time.”

For Ede, the show contains numerous challenges with a lot of lyrics to learn and dances.

“We have a wonderful director who has put us through our paces - some of us are not natural dancers. We’ve all been going to the gym, we signed up on day one of rehearsals so you’ll see us in there on the treadmills singing.

“You do need to be very fit, pantomime can be exhausting. You have to put in so much energy - dancing, singing and acting on stage and then off stage as you quickly change into different costumes.

“There is a tradition in pantomime that every time the dame enters on stage, she is in a new costume - we have matched that I think. My costumes are outrageous, I don’t want to give too much away but they are Chinese-themed and there’s a lot of them.”

Tyler Fayose who plays Aladdin says his first costume resembles the Disney version of Aladdin which has prompted his own daily visits to the gym.

“It is quite revealing at the start but then as Aladdin becomes wealthy, the costumes are more rich.”

Fayose says he loves the sense of fun and interaction of a pantomime audience.

“You come out on stage and see the children there who are so excited and so happy that their faces light up, the parents love it as well and get involved.

“Everyone can interact together, it doesn’t really matter if the kids make a bit of noise, we can go over that - if Widow Twanky is heckled, she can say what she likes back, make it into a joke and come back to the storyline.

“There is a certain amount of free rein to deviate from the script depending on what you’re playing.”

Ede who recalls wanting to be up on stage when going to see Mother Goose in Poole as a child said: “For a lot of children, it’s the first time they have ever come to the theatre and it ignites an enthusiasm in them for live theatre. You get them to shout out, they have a fun evening and love the theatre.

“People don’t need to know the story before they come - we will tell the story very well.”

Aladdin runs in the Main House at Salisbury Playhouse from Saturday, December 3 to January 7. For tickets call 01722 320333 or visit salisburyplayhouse.com

It is directed by Ryan McBryde and writer Andrew Pollard who return following their hit Cinderella last year.