Justin Fletcher and Paul Morse return for Aladdin, 48 performances from 5 December. Prices run £20 to £47.50, and Reading gets no captioned show.
Reading’s pantomime this year is Aladdin at the Hexagon, running Saturday 5 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. It is the town’s only professional panto: the It’s Panto Time listing run by Reading Arts and Venues carries one show, and this is it.
Booking is open now. Everything below comes from the venue’s own listing and its published performance schedule, checked on 4 September 2026.
Who is in it
Justin Fletcher plays Aladdin and Paul Morse plays Widow Twankey. Reading has had the same double act for several years and the venue listing calls them “Reading’s favourite panto double act”. The show is produced by Imagine Theatre, which also has Aladdin running at Halifax and Stafford this Christmas.
The producer’s page gives the practical bits the venue page does not: it is suitable for ages 3 and up, runs about 125 minutes including a 20 minute interval, and has one interval with ice creams.
What it costs
Prices are set by a colour band, and the band depends on which performance you pick. These are the full price ranges from the Hexagon’s performance schedule and prices.
| Band | Platinum | Gold | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £47.50 | £44.50 | £41.50 |
| B | £45.75 | £42.75 | £39.75 |
| C | £44.00 | £41.00 | £38.00 |
| D | £42.25 | £39.25 | £36.25 |
| E | £40.50 | £37.50 | £34.50 |
| Restricted view | £33.50 | £30.50 | £27.50 |
| Band | Blue | Green | Pink |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £39.50 | £37.00 | £34.00 |
| B | £37.75 | £35.25 | £32.25 |
| C | £36.00 | £33.50 | £30.50 |
| D | £34.25 | £31.75 | £28.75 |
| E | £32.50 | £30.00 | £27.00 |
| Restricted view | £25.50 | £23.00 | £20.00 |
The venue’s page advertises “Full Price Tickets £27 to £47.50”. That is accurate for a full-view seat, but it is not the cheapest way in. A restricted view seat in the Pink band is £20.00, and the Purple band used for the relaxed performances carries only two prices in the whole schedule, £24.00 and £21.50. Prices are e-ticket prices and include fees.
Discounts worth knowing:
- Under 16s get £2 off Blue, Green and Pink performances and £1 off Red.
- Groups of 10 or more pay £26.50 to £34.50 on the higher bands, with one in 20 free.
- Youth groups of 10 or more pay £23.50 to £31.00, one in 20 free.
- Schools pay £15.00 a head on Blue performances, with one in 11 free.
Box office is 0118 960 6060 or boxoffice@reading.gov.uk. Group and school bookings of 10 or more go through 0118 937 2011.
Access performances, and what Reading does not get
The Hexagon has four access performances, and both the venue and the producer publish the same four, so this is settled:
| Type | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Relaxed | Friday 11 December | 10.30am |
| BSL signed | Saturday 12 December | 1pm |
| BSL signed | Monday 28 December | 5pm |
| Relaxed | Wednesday 30 December | 10.30am |
There is no captioned performance and no audio-described performance in Reading. Imagine Theatre’s FAQ for this production says “BSL-interpreted, audio-described, captioned and relaxed performances are scheduled” and points you at its accessible performances list. That list is where it becomes clear the sentence is about the company, not about Reading: Coventry gets audio description and two captioned shows, Bromley gets audio description and captioning, Cardiff, Dartford, High Wycombe, Llandudno and Swindon all get audio description. Reading’s entry has two relaxed and two signed performances and nothing else.
If you need audio description or captioning, the nearest Imagine venue offering it is Wycombe Swan at High Wycombe (Peter Pan, audio described Monday 28 December at 5pm), about 45 minutes’ drive.
For relaxed performances the Hexagon prioritises customers registered on its Access List, so join that before booking rather than after.
The performance schedule
Forty-eight performances across 24 playing days, two a day every day the show runs. Weekends are 1pm and 5pm. Weekdays in the first fortnight start at 10.30am, with a second show at 2pm, 6.30pm or 7pm depending on the date. From 19 December it settles into 1pm and 5pm.
The dark days matter if you are planning a trip. There is no performance at all on Monday 7 December, Tuesday 8 December, Monday 14 December, Friday 18 December, Christmas Day or Friday 1 January. Christmas Eve is 11am and 3pm, New Year’s Eve is 11am and 3pm, and the run finishes on Sunday 3 January with 11am and 3pm.
The alternative: A Christmas Carol at Reading Rep
If a panto is not what you want, Reading Rep on King’s Road is doing A Christmas Carol, an in-the-round retelling with live music, age guidance 6+, about 120 minutes, tickets £19 to £38.
The dates are published in two different places and they disagree. The council’s What’s On Reading listing says 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Reading Rep’s own page says 21 November to 3 January, and its booking list starts at Saturday 21 November, 7.30pm. Go with the theatre: there is nothing bookable on 19 or 20 November.
Two things Reading Rep does that the Hexagon does not. It has a signed and captioned performance on Thursday 10 December at 7.30pm, and it lists a relaxed performance as available even though no date is tagged in its schedule, so ring the box office on 0118 370 2620 for that one. And it is already selling out in places: Wednesday 25 November at 7.30pm is sold out as of 4 September.
Getting there
The Hexagon is on Queen’s Walk, RG1 7QF, inside the IDR and a ten minute walk from Reading station. Imagine Theatre’s own advice is to park at Broad Street Mall, RG1 7QE, which is the closest multi-storey. Watch the closing time if you are at an evening performance that finishes near 10pm. Our Reading parking page has the tariffs, and the roadworks and travel page is worth a look before you drive in.
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