Jack and the Beanstalk

This year’s panto offering from the Norbury Players was a classic of the genre –Jack and the Beanstalk.  Written and co-directed by John Birchley (alongside co-director Anne Lane), this was a great take on probably the most English of all the panto stories. 

As the curtains opened, we were greeted with a nicely painted backdrop, featuring a few local Droitwich landmarks – nice Easter eggs for the eagle eyed!  There was also a twining beanstalk that neatly framed the stage – a nice touch.  The show started with a youthful chorus front and centre, welcoming us to a ‘Brand New Day’.  This was a really strong start to the show – great to see those young performers giving it both barrels!

We were soon introduced to Dame Trott, played in regal style by David Goode and full of corny jokes and one-liners, just as you’d expect!  He also wore a selection of very good outfits, nice work by the costume team.  I liked that he often included the ensemble in his joke-telling.  The Dame’s two sons, Jack and Jez Trott, soon appeared, dragging along the family cow, Buttercup.  This provided an opportunity for a version of The Foundations’ classic ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ that was clearly too good to miss!

Jessica Faulkner was spot on as Jack, our Principal Boy, relaxed and developing a great relationship with the audience.  Norbury panto regular Jimmy Hill brought loads of energy to the role of Jez, revelling in the fun and games with an infectious, cheeky laugh.  They also worked well as a pairing, performing a great song together and sticking with each other through thick and thin.  Abii Ward was nicely coy as Jane (‘the girl next door’), who was soon being romanced by a lovestruck Jack.  A word too for Sheila Hampton and Ali Chorley, who must have been very hot inside an impressive Buttercup costume, but who didn’t miss a beat. 

We also met the wonderfully named Gruffy McGruff-Face, the Trott’s landlord who can hardly wait to throw them out of their house for non-payment of rent.  Tony Catchpole was very funny in this outrageously camp role, and his sidekicks Ding (Craig Powell) and Dong (Fiona Andrews) likewise revelled in their roles as boo-able bad guys.  Their performance of ‘All that Cash’, a reworked version of ‘All that Jazz’ was great fun.

The show featured some really nice dance sequences, from both the senior dancers (Isla Ball, Holly Rowsell, Cerys Caffery and Matilda Stead), with their garland dance being a particular highlight, and a charming group of junior dancers who enchanted the audience as first a pod of peas and later some farmyard animals.  Well done to the members of the ‘pink team’, who alternated with the ‘green team’ and were on duty for the performance that I attended.  Nice work from choreographer Kirsty H. Purvis, both with the dancers and members of the ensemble.

The first half ended with Jack climbing the beanstalk to the palace of Giant Horatio Thunderguts (another good panto name!)  This was realised via an impressive animation projected onto a screen at the front – great work from the technical team. 

Into the second half, which featured a rousing version of the Kinks’ ‘Village Green Preservation Society’ featuring the whole ensemble to great effect.  Jack was soon exploring the giant’s castle, which was depicted via a good backdrop and some well-realised oversized furniture.  The Giant was effectively voiced offstage by Jack Sheward (who also popped up onstage as The Oldest Inhabitant of the Village, with some sage advice for Jack).  We also met his normal-sized wife, Edith (Mary Steele), a ditzy, jolly friend to Jack during his adventures.

Jack pinched a golden harp from the Giant, which he then spectacularly failed to sell at the local market.  I would have thought a large lump of solid gold would have been rather attractive to potential buyers, but apparently not as the entire ensemble gave him the cold shoulder.  Back Jack went to the Giant’s castle to pinch some rather more useful gold coins, although it was nice to see the other characters giving short shrift to his thievery!

It turned out that there was some old beef between the Trott’s and the Thunderguts, which was resolved by the appearance of Charlie Walton as Giant Horatio Thunderguts II.  I wasn’t completely sure whether he was the son of the Giant or the Giant himself, revealed to be rather smaller than expected in a Wizard of Oz style plot twist?  Regardless, all ended happily, with even Ding and Dong turning vegan after spending some quality time with Buttercup the cow. 

The show concluded with the traditional song sheet, brilliantly marshalled by Jimmy Hill, who also got through a very long list of shout outs!  Music was provided by Musical Director Ben Thompson and Laurence Nicholas, who managed to produce a much larger sound than I would have thought just two people would be capable of!  The cast appeared to have been Tangoed for their final bows, resplendent in some very impressive, and very orange, outfits! 

Congratulations to everyone at the Norbury for a most enjoyable evening.  My first show of the year, and 2026 is off to a great start!  I look forward to seeing you all again soon. 

Chris Davies – Regional Representative district 5

It is always good to be at the Norbury Theatre affectional known as The Norb in my role as Regional Councillor and never more so than at their pantomime. Having had pantomime in Droitwich for as long as anyone can remember it is now as much Droitwich as is the salt. The iconic Water Tower (maybe only known to locals) was immediately recognisable on the extremely well painted backing. With the cleverly named village as the setting it was easy to image the real Droitwich Spa set in the very next valley.

The casting was strong with good characterisations, not least in the fun-loving Jimmy Hill (Jez) and although not often on-stage Tony Catchpole (Gruffy) but all involved were believable.

I did like the twist as described by Chris – well done to Charlie Walton.

The Norb has many assets which most amateur societies would love to have at their disposal. However, the lack of stage height has at times made Jack and the Beanstalk difficult to depict. Thanks to technology this was not the case this year. The staging was well done within the giant’s castle. The golden harp was impressive (even if somewhat easy to carry when solid gold).

This year’s panto contained the right ingredients for a successful panto.

A good start to the 2026 season indeed from Droitwich Theatre and Arts Club and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Andy Brown, Regional Councillor NODA West Midlands.

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