Jack and the Beanstalk

Thank you, Rachelle and all the Sutton Bridge Players, for a warm welcome at your first night of Jack and the Beanstalk by Kei Bailey. You have produced a colourful, energetic pantomime, in a relatively small space at Westmere school.

Your set, was rich and well-lit. Your attention to detail, like the butcher’s shop window, the garden flowers and signposts, brought your whole show to life and intrigued your audience. (Stage design by Jason Carnell).  Your scene changes were swift and well managed, I commend your backstage crew, (Stage Managers Tom and Georgia Venni), well done.  I saw some imaginative props too, like the TV camera, beanstalk and giant table bottles and jars, which were made by Paula Ryan, gorgeous. The overall sound was excellent, with special effects like the giant’s voice which were all well run and I could hear every word on stage. Your costumes were bright, colourful and character-appropriate. I particularly liked Ammonia’s suit and the jungle-themed Dame dress, but everything looked well made and comfortable for your actors. Costumes by Cass Wheatley, very well done. Make-up also looked great, with appropriate wigs and hair gel as required, all coming together to ensure the characters looked their best.

Director, Rachelle Carnell and Assistant Director/choreographer, Charlotte Ryan had worked hard to create movement and energy on stage. I especially liked the gospel number and chase scene. Utilising the front of cloth area, you managed the show, so that scenes were changed behind the curtains, or with characters coming into the audience or lighting and sound effects, (Sound - Steven Milnes) which moved the plot forward effectively. I feel it is important that the actors look confident on stage and in the most part it all worked well, some obvious first-night nerves, that I hope will resolve as you move through your run. There were a couple of awkward moments, for instance when Septimus Fleshcreep, Jason Carnell, came into the audience, I felt the humour was lost, he didn’t seem as confident and actually just worried the audience, rather than engaging with them. A little more of a light-hearted approach and some more confident movements would have brought those elements to life. I know he was supposed to be a little creepy, but an audience needs to enjoy hating the character while laughing at the same time. A little more work is required there. Jason does have a lovely singing voice and his solo number went down well.

Jack Trott played dynamically by Ren Shilcock, confident, gentle hero who engaged well with the audience and other characters. Ren has a great singing voice and a natural acting strength, which was just right for the part. The stage lit up every time they came on. Tallulah Trott played by Michael Barron as TV Weather Girl and mother to Simon and Jack was an interesting character. Not the usual gentle motherly figure we often meet in Pantomime. Tallulah was abrupt with the audience rather than conversational and I feel Michael chose to play the character with a brusque, snappy delivery, which meant the audience didn’t warm to Tallulah. Sometimes the Dame is just a bloke in a dress, rather than a feminine motherly caricature. Saying that, Tallulah delighted the audience with her costumes, her comic timing and the bossy way she dealt with her son’s and the crafty way she tried to get TV’s Bernie on a date. The chase scene was the perfect ploy for this and had us in stitches. The musical number, It’s Raining Men, was fun and well executed and Michael’s pace throughout was always very good.

Simon Trott played very well by Kirsty Nichols, engaged in a lovey friendly way with the audience, especially with the time-honoured ‘say Hi Si’, call and response. I think Kirsty might have made a little more of it, yet overall, she brought the audience along with the japes and fun her character created. Her lovely scene with Daisy the Cow, played by the tap-dancing Paula Ryan, was a very well executed panto staple. Kirsty has a great stage presence and confidence, which I loved.

The Splinter family played by (Jill Splinter) Charlotte Ryan and (Ammonia Splinter) by Fiona Milnes were delightful. Jill (Jack’s girlfriend) was charming, bright and funny, while her mother went from baddy to goody to everyone’s delight. Her TV company, Charles Toupee – Chis Miller, Samantha Grin - Angela Scott, and Bernie Bragmore – Ashley Hornigold looked amazing in their costumes, had good diction and added lots of fun. (A very clever plot theme, by writer Kei Bailey). The news items were creatively staged and I noticed that the audience waited in anticipation when they heard your theme tune each time.

The strongest performance on stage was Graham Dickinson, as chicken. We all loved the larger-than-life character, his humour, timing, body language and acting choices were wonderful. The children and adults in the audience responded well to Chicken and I feel Graham produced one of the best ‘skin’ performances I have seen this season.

The charming trainee fairy, Rosie Glow played by Lorraine Nuccoll was another cleverly written element. For instance, at the finale we had her graduation party, rather than a wedding, plus the anticipation of whether she could help the Trott family with her one spell or not. Lorraine’s costume was lovely and her singing voice a real high light of the show for me. She created a captivating character, who the audience fell in love with. June Drew played Myrtle Turtle, a master class in character acting. June‘s onstage moments were filled with lovely interactions and reactions even when she wasn’t speaking. The business with the potato was and interesting acting choice! Paula Ryan as Delia engaged characterfully with the other actors and audience really well.

So overall, a well organised pantomime from Sutton Bridge Players. All the great pantomime staples including super musical elements. I was pleased to meet you all after the show and was delighted to hear positive comment from your audience. I wish you well for the rest of the run and hope to meet you all again, next year.

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