Theatre reviews: Snow White, Eden Court, Inverness | Aladdin, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

It’s in the nature of panto to send itself up; it’s not exactly a naturalistic art-form, after all, and awareness that it’s all just a story is a vital part of the fun. The trick, though, is to get the balance right between send-up and storytelling; pantomimes are based on fairytales, and without the odd moment where the audience begins, however briefly, to believe in magic, we tip over into the territory where the whole thing becomes at best a vehicle for a bit of adult satire and at worst a self-indulgent joke.