Piper Williams 11DRA2 Mr Henry
Aladdin Justification
After watching Disney’s production of ‘Aladdin’ at the lyric theatre on the 24th of April, it was evident that the director, Casey Nicholaw and the cast effectively portrayed the themes of, the importance of being true to oneself and feeling trapped, through the manipulation of the dramatic languages and the utilisations of the conventions of magical realism. The Musical ‘Aladdin’ is based around when an orphaned ‘street rat’ of the same name frees a genie from a magic lamp and soon finds his wish of becoming a prince to impress a beautiful girl is granted. However, he soon finds out that pretending to be someone you’re not isn’t as easy as it seems.
The definition of feeling trapped is; to be in a bad situation from which you cannot escape. Aladdin is in many ways ‘trapped’, stuck in a place where everyone sees him as a lonely street rat with no potential for escape. That type of life is all Aladdin has known and grown up with. He was left to fend for himself in the lonely streets of Agrabah, with his stealth and wit as his only defence. Ainsley Melhan who plays Aladdin creates a contrast in his first scene in the market place as he seems happy while he is being chased, as he is always one jump ahead. He is found out to be ‘the diamond in the rough’ the only person that could enter the ‘cave of wonders’ to retrieve the lamp. All he wants to do is break free and make his mother proud; and he finally gets his chance, this is where the princess and him share something in common. Shubshi Kandiah, who plays Princess Jasmine has never been in the marketplace nor has she ever left the safety of the palace; she just wants to escape and experience the world beyond the castle walls, to escape the expectations of her father and society. This also explores the traditional gender roles of young women in society. The dramatic element of mood is strongly manipulated throughout the storyline, as it makes the audience start to become frustrated and unhappy with the way her father is enforcing these misogynistic laws and keeping her locked up. She finally gets sick of feeling like a caged animal and gathers the courage to disguise herself as a commoner and experience what the marketplace is truly like. She is mesmerised by what she sees; the stalls, the women and their children, the dancing and singing and especially by the young street rat Aladdin, at this moment tension of the relationship is created; but all good things must come to an end, well in this case a pause. A scene displaying both characters feeling entrapped is when Jasmine and Aladdin end up in a hide away above the city where he lives. They start discussing how their lives are different but what they don’t see is their similar aspirations, which shows a contrast between the two. Where they start to show their similarities is an important beginning of their relationship, they both start exclaiming how they fell as Jasmine says “You’re not f...
