The Walt Disney musical Aladdin Jr was very recently performed in Guyana by the Georgetown International Academy. It was a school production which holds some significance because of the place it has earned on the local stage and the ancient tradition it follows in pantomimes and musicals based on fairy tales and traditional folk tales. Aladdin comes from a very interesting background and tradition.
The story of Alladin and the Magic Lamp is very well known and very old. It is regarded as one of the several fantastic Arabian tales and has even been associated with 1001 Arabian Nights, but there are uncertainties about its origin and identity. Just like many folk tales of this nature, different versions exist, such as Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, which do not help to fix it.
According to the narrative of authentic versions, the story itself is set in China. However, within the story are many Muslim or Arabic references, while there is hardly anything clearly or identifiably Chinese. For example, a major protagonist in the story, the spirit of the lamp, is called a “Genie”. That is most definitely the spirit or being known to the Muslims as “jinni” (singular) or “jinn” (plural). “Genie” is an Anglicised appellation for the
