There was a celebratory mood at the Old Vic during the opening matinee of Sean Mathias's tremendous production of Aladdin...Ian McKellen first appears as Widow Twankey in a psychedelic, neon-bright fur coat, swinging a lime-green, patent-leather handbag. He looks like Edna Everage's blushing English first cousin several times removed. He is a shopaholic with a smile as relentlessly switched on as Regent Street's Christmas lights. [More]