Jack and the Beanstalk

Tagged as "The Best Little Panto in MK"; we had a lovely night at The Venue MK watching Jack and the Beanstalk. 

Pantomime is a fine art: if you get it right, it's brilliant. But get it wrong and you can lose your audience forever. MKAOS are obviously doing it right; their two-week run over the Christmas holidays is all but sold out and the auditorium was packed full of expectant families waiting for a fun packed evening. They didn't disappoint.

Upon entering the auditorium, we were greeted by one of the most colourful displays I've seen in amateur theatre. I absolutely loved the projection on the proscenium arch, and the theatre felt like it was buzzing with anticipation and fun. We were greeted by Kevin - the societies treasurer who made us feel welcome and gave us a rundown of how rehearsals had gone. We then sat back to enjoy the evening.

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to panto - I like there to be a principal boy, principal girl, village idiot, baddy and fairy. John wrote his Jack and the Beanstalk script to include all these elements, but with a much smaller principal cast and in an untraditional way, but it worked. 

As with all good pantomimes, we met Fairy Poppins first, practically perfectly played by Michelle Hejtmankova. Michelle was a brilliant storyteller and had all the charm of a good fairy. Even when faced with Fleshcreep, our baddy for the evening. Fleshcreep was played by Vicky Amies, and she did a good job of commanding the stage whenever she entered, but not in a way that she terrified the children. I thought she was very skilled at being just bad enough to know that she was evil, but not in a way that would send 5-year-olds home with night terrors. This is a skill not to be reckoned with.

Next, we met Jack Trott, played by Kayleigh Quinn. Kayleigh played the part much more like the village idiot rather than a principal boy but given the Jack's character isn't the brightest of sparks traditionally, this really worked. Kayleigh worked the audience like she'd been doing it her entire life, and never faltered. She'd be brilliant in children's TV as she has that lovable childlike quality that all kids adore. She sang well and proved that she could move well too. I really enjoyed her character. 

Then came John Dowell as Dame Trott. Now, to write, direct and perform in a pantomime is no mean feat. But john never once let the pressure show. His dame was a proper traditional "bloke in a frock" and he had all the right responses to the audience at the right times. He added in a few adult jokes which were perfectly delivered and knew his script inside-out... He should do, he wrote it after all!

One character you don't expect to meet in Jack and The Beanstalk is Puss in Boots - Played by Rachel Smith, Puss gave me the principal boy feel that I was missing from Jack. I thought she was perfect in the role; she had a great singing voice and really knew what she was doing. For me, Puss was one of my favourite characters.

Princess Apricot was played by Coren Yates. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like her character as it was played similarly to Jack's - A little bit simple. But she really grew on me and by the interval she'd won me over. Steve Clark played her father, King Crumble and the Giant; Blunderbore. Steve played both parts fantastically and I really enjoyed his performance. 

A band of Princesses made an entrance - Helen Winder, Emily Amies, Ava Rogers, Ayls Brown, Samantha Mellor and Victoria Simpson knew their Princesses perfectly and this was a good addition to the panto. Finally, you can't have Jack and the Beanstalk without Daisy the Cow. Daisy so often gets forgotten but Emily Darling and Beth Evans did a great job of bringing Daisy to life - I will never envy the person who plays the back end of the cow in panto - I'm not sure my back could cope!

The chorus and dancers were perfectly rehearsed. With not a foot put wrong and perfect harmonies, the songs were a joy to watch and listen to. So often it's difficult to hear the chorus on stage in amateur theatre, but this wasn't the case with MKAOS. The levels were spot on, and the music was a credit to the MD, Amy Hansford.

The costumes were bright and well suited to the production and the scenery was lovely and well-lit from the lighting director Martin Putman. I loved the programme which was fun and informative. It had lots of activities for the audience and even space on the back for autographs from your favourite characters. It will be my honour to enter this into the programme competition.

If I had one little criticism, it would be that I missed some of the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk storyline - The harp, the cutting down of the beanstalk - even the growing of the beanstalk seemed to be under played, and I missed this. However, we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, as did the rest of the audience with lots of great comments being heard on our way back to the car.

Well done MKAOS - a brilliantly colourful and fun evening. As for next year... Well, "We'll have to do it again then, won't we?"

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.