The younger members of the audience needed no encouragement to join in. They shouted, they screamed, they hollered and they stopped Widow Twankey wiping her runny nose on her sleeve.

If pantomime was only for children (and some might say it is), this Aladdin would be considered a hit.

But spare a thought for the critical adults - well, this one at least - who have to be there as well. The rambling narrative, the older-than-Methuselah jokes and having to wait an eternity (a good 30 minutes or more) before top-billed stars Michael Starke and Syd Little put in an appearance all dented my enthusiasm.

The production seems a little bit mechanical and lacking in heart. This is a show without charm that does everything required of a pantomime, including the obligatory references to parking in York, but fails to make you care about the characters or what happens to them.

It also needs a trim to make it closer to two rather than three hours, thanks to such deviations from the plot as a medley of songs from Grease and Wishee Washee's ventriloquism act with Charlie the monkey (the most appealing person in the show).

Syd Little's Supersonic, the Genie of the Ring, is someone kids love but he's competing for attention with Gareth Oliver's lively Wishee Washee. And Starke's Emperor of China is given precious little to do, although certainly more than the Chinese Policeman who are totally wasted.

Until January 7. Tickets 0870-6063595.