Jack and the Beanstalk

The art of pantomime is definitely an area of expertise for this group, each member of the cast - and indeed the folk backstage - clearly had a ball with this production. Everyone shone with the excitement of being involved which is such a key ingredient when taking part in a panto and ultimately resulted in a well presented and enjoyable production. With pantos, you can use pretty much any songs you like to convey that particular character's emotion or heighten the ambiance of that particular scene and the songs chosen all fitted to create the right mood of that moment. The chorus song choices were a great selection and, as it should be, each song was recognisable which had the audience humming  along, adding to a great pre-christmas atmosphere!

Jack and the Beanstalk, written by Darren Worsfold and  Dennis Manning, was full of panto tradition from the moment the curtains opened. This fun-filled family event had all the traditional elements we have learnt to expect, from start to finish.  In this version of the well known fairy tale Jack goes off to seek money to pay his mother's debts, save the villagers who were being ‘milked dry’ by the giants henchmen and to marry the love of his life, the Princess. He encounters not one villain but three in the form of Rancid Clot, Bean and Dunnit. The latter two, played by the authors, enchanted the younger element in the audience with their incredible antics and slap stick scenes and Rancid, played by John Oade  was  outstandingly evil. Sadly he spoke a little too fast so we had some difficulty in catching all his dialogue but his version of ‘I’m All Alone’  sung with the other two baddies was the song of the show.

The main character in this particular panto is, of course, Jack – expertly played by Robyn Dessoy – who has fallen in love with the lovely Princess, played by Lauren Smith.  It was great to see such a quality “duo” here – and their musical numbers were delivered with ease. Playing Dame Trot was the very capable Jonathan Hope, who gave us a traditional Dame delivering the part exactly as it should be. He was zany, energised and adored by all. Every appearance on stage sported a different costume, hat or wig in brilliant colours and styles and his dialogue was totally suitable for all ages in the audience. His first love was his cow Daisy superbly performed by Laura Mitchell and Connor Hope. Apart from the outstanding costume the couple shone in their ability to dance in time with each other and the rest of the chorus and portray their character and emotions. I loved her!  Laine Watson gave us the character of Fairy Mary making her stand out and frequently leading the chorus numbers, a performance which I enjoyed very much. Andrew Bates as the King and Georgie Tarr as Dozy Denn were full of mischief labouring  hard to keep the audience on their toes and laughing. Add to this a hard working chorus and no wonder this pantomime was so entertaining.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.