But that is precisely the issue. If then the story is so firmly set in its Chinese origin (or even the more modern used location of the middle east) that it cant be moved and you cant use ethnically appropriate actors then should it be done at all? West Side Story increasingly isnt getting away with it, Hairspray cant. Alhough Aladdin isnt specifically about race, it does have a very specific setting unlike most others. Even the west end production was criticised by some when it cast a white actor as the replacement aladdin at the cast change. White actors in Chinese costumes is getting harder to justify. Changes are already being made with Peter Pan moving away from Indians in Neverland.

I'm not sure how I feel myself either way but I can see how it's getting an increasingly problematic panto.