Jack and The Beanstalk

Well, that’s first! In all my decades in this business I have never before attended a show at 9.30 in the morning! That however is what I found myself doing as I attended Castle Newnham school in Bedford on a cold Tuesday morning to see their drama society, 4Sixteen perform this pantomime. This show was performed by years Two to Four (ages seven to nine years old), and well worth the early start to see these youngsters beginning their theatrical journeys.

The show was written, staged and created by Resident Drama Director, Tara Hutchins, and what a mark she has made on the standing of drama at 4Sixteen since her arrival at the school!  Her plot was to save Old Macdonald’s Farm from the sneaky Lord Greedington but things don’t get off to a great start when Jack swaps their cow, Daisy for a bag of beans! But will Jack be brave enough to climb the beanstalk and defeat the Giant Blunderbore?

The studio theatre stage was laid out lengthways giving maximum width for what turned out to be a fairly large cast. On both sides of the upstage rear was a red and white painted barn door and, stage right a pile of straw bales, out of which the giant beanstalk ‘grew up into the sky.’ To the centre rear was a plinth used by the leads to rise above the large chorus in front of them. Considering they only had their first view of the stage at one rehearsal the day before they had pretty much mastered the use of the space available. A couple of the characters, Jack and the Fairy, were even confident enough with the space during their songs to walk up and down in front of the first row palming the audience and the Fairy even ventured further back into the audience.  These kids had learnt fast.

The costumes were excellent, amongst many we had a black and white cow, a grey horse, Old Macdonald as a classic cowhand, a sheep with woolly fleece and lots of ‘ears’ representing different animals. The lighting, by that now very experienced hand Ben Cronin from Year 10, washed the stage perfectly. But unfortunately, the sound system once again had its problems and I had to feel for sound technician Emily Green who was clearly struggling to make it balance and to add to her woes, one or two personal microphones also had problems. I shall however skip quickly passed that as I was informed that as soon as this show is over a brand new sound system is being installed. Hallelujah!! I look forward to hearing that when I revisit next month. Much needed!

Our actors all put their all into their various roles and grew in confidence as the show progressed. Alfie Williams as Jack was a perfect example, a little hesitant to start with and by the end had the audience in the palm of his hand and was supremely confident with his delivery. He was well backed up by Elana Regueira Howe as Jill. Jack Thomas played his dad, Old Macdonald and Esme Higgens Mother Macdonald looking every bit a pair of farmers straight out of the American Midwest. Very well done. Our Fairy, Grace Rodgers was probably the most confident of all and looked totally at home on the stage. Definitely one to watch for the future. James Blore as Lord Greedington, our baddy certainly had the facial expressions for the part and we were all soon booing with enthusiasm. Great stuff!

Now the giant Blunderbore, played by Clem Oliver was a wonderful twist to the plot. Spoiler alert! After all the deep roaring and thundering noises offstage, his appearance got a huge laugh as he turned out to be of normal stature and as one character immediately said to him with perfect timing, ‘I thought you might have been a little bit taller!’ Comedy genius and so well delivered! Violet Zang played Harper, loved the mini harp. Lucille Habershon was Henrietta the Horse and Freda McNeil Ortega was Daisy the cow.

Special mention of our three narrators, who delivered the story with clarity and kept things rolling along even on the odd occasion helping to cover some lost lines by others. Well done indeed to Ava Dymond, Samuel Moore and Monroe Day Downie! Good job guys!

And finally all were backed up by Henchmen Oliver Pyecroft, Rufus Cowin, Poppy Stray and Harry Molloy.

But of course, not forgetting the large ensemble who danced and sang their way through some great choreographed numbers such as ‘I’ve got the Magic in Me,’ ‘Price Tag’ and ‘Bring It All Back.’ With over fifty members of the ensemble, they were split into two teams, Blue and Yellow and for this performance it was the Blue teams turn, who enthusiastically did a great job. So well done to:
Layla Armah, William Courcha, Olivia Darnell, Dolly Davis, Ameen Ferguson, Lianna George, Hugh Gibson, Abigail Galvin, Benjamin Greene, Rose Gregory, Onali Gunthailake, Anisha Hughes, Adeline Jephson, Muhammad Kabir, Maliha Khan, Cayden Maynard, George Regan, Bella-Romina Saulle, Ashi Sharma, Harri Singh Southworth, Soliman Swingler, Lilita Tkachenko, James Tran, Ollie Trewby and Elizabeth Woods-Hughes.

Taking into account that I saw the very first performance, something I normally try to avoid, I don’t think anybody would disagree with me if I said the cast could have done with a little more rehearsal time, but you could see these were fast learners and the art of covering pregnant pauses and dropped lines is still very much in the discovery and learning stage, but as confidence grew throughout the performance so did their skills in that direction. But most of all you could see how enthusiastic they were and, despite some obvious nerves they were all thoroughly enjoying themselves. And, there are undoubtedly one or two obvious stars of the future whose progress I very much look forward to following.

So well done to Director Tara Hutchings and her assistants Mollie Mcateer and Tony Sharp on a thoroughly enjoyable mornings entertainment. Always one of my highlights following the upward trajectory of 4Sixteen, even if it is on a cold and frosty morning!

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