Genie (Alan McNally), Abu (Michaela Courtney), Jasmine (Nicola Brennan), the Sultan (Frances Tuffery), Eeago (Mary O'Grady) and Jafar (Jenny Molloy Byrne) from Clondalkin Drama Group
The ‘hilariously funny’ Aladdin performed by Clondalkin Drama Group
“WE ENDED up going with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ instead but knew that ‘Aladdin’ would definitely be our next one!” explains Michaela Courtney, PR Officer of Clondalkin Drama Group.
Clondalkin Drama Group are delighted to announce that ‘Aladdin’, their “hilariously funny original pantomime”, is coming in January 2026.
Michaela explains that while the group’s panto last year was ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Aladdin’ was suggested, so they agreed that it would be the next year’s panto.
“We thought it would be a fun, classic panto after last year, and one of our members was keen to tackle writing the script and making it our own.”
Alan, the writer and director, began writing it this summer, and the group held auditions in early October after their one-act production in the fall, so they’ve been working on it for a “good while”.
Michaela mentions working on panto with Clondalkin Drama Group is “always so fun” because they write the show themselves, meaning they can play around with the stories as much as they want.
They can also add in jokes and scenes that make the show more personal to them and the community.
A challenge of the production has been their rehearsal space being “too small” and “not suitable” upstairs in Quinlan’s, even though they “adore” Quinlan’s.
They had to move all of their stuff out right before our rehearsal period started, as there has been talk of the upstairs space being renovated.
They had to clear everything away so that an architect could scope the place out, and they still have not brought everything back up, meaning they have not yet been able to rehearse with proper lights or sound.
Michaela clarifies that “we are so grateful to Quinlan’s for housing us, but we do wish we could have a more permanent and suitable space in the village where we wouldn’t have to move things around so often.”
While working on ‘Aladdin’, the group have also been discussing what play they would like to do in the summer, and they will likely do some short plays in the autumn as well.
They will then begin rehearsing for the 2027 panto.
‘Aladdin’ caps off a busy 2025 for Clondalkin Drama Group, as they performed ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ in Colaiste Chillain in January, then ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ in May.
For the latter show, they performed in Rathcoole for the first time, as well as Clondalkin, which was met with great success, as their Rathcoole performances were sold out.
They would like to be able to branch out and be able to bring their work outside of Clondalkin in the future.
Michaela would like to thank “fabulous” writer, director, and Genie, Alan McNally, as well as the entire cast for their hard work.
She also extends her gratitude to Quinlan’s and Colaiste Chillain for hosting the group; Clondalkin Village Hardware for “acting as our box office”; The Echo for featuring the group; and everyone who supports them by seeing their shows and following them online.
‘Aladdin’ will be running the second and third weekends of January 2026 (10, 11, 16, 17 and 18).
Tickets are available at Clondalkin Village Hardware and are €5 for children, €10 for adults, and €25 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children).
