Aladdin panto faces backlash over 'innuendo' trigger warning - a year after vegan song banned over 'bullying' complaint

18 October 2024, 16:28

An Aladin pantomime has been called out over a trigger warning to audiences that the show contains "innuendos".

The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham had previously faced bullying claims over songs about "vegans", with some audience members claiming the track amounted to "bullying".

As a result, the theatre has decided to create a more "relaxed" version of the show ahead of the 2024 Christmas season.

However, some claim the theatre has gone too far, issuing a new trigger warning for this year's Aladdin pantomime over its "loud and cheeky" performances.

With the show, which will run from November 29th to January 12th, the theatre has shared that some of the jokes might offend people and audiences are being pre-warned that the panto might be loud too.

Their website has stated: 'Panto is a lot of fun but sometimes it can be a little bit loud and a little bit cheeky with some jokes that only grown-ups will understand.

'Please bear this in mind if you are bringing anyone under the age of 5 or anyone with a nervous or more sensitive disposition'.

This warning comes after one of their production's last year cut a song from Mother Goose after multiple audience members complained that the lyrics about vegans could lead to bullying.

One of the lines of the songs included that the "G in vegan stands for gassy, while the A stands for either anaemic or annoying".

The theatre shared with the Mail that "our pantomime Mother Goose is a live production which is constantly being refined and improved.

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"The creative team behind this year's production continuously evaluates all aspects of the performance in order to create the best, most entertaining experience for the audience possible.

"Pantomime is a uniquely collaborative art form where the audience is very much a part of the show and we respect all of our audiences views and comments.

"The relationship between our amazingly talented cast and the audience is what makes pantomime special and makes each and every performance a singular live event."

In another incident last year, the show was called racist as they only included all-white characters and included the lyric 'come on down to our oriental town' in their Aladdin production.