Jack and The Beanstalk

The cleverly worded opening announcement in rhyme set the atmosphere for this well loved Pantomime. The struggle between good, in the form of the fairy Lettuce, and evil, in the form of Stinkwort, was quickly established, with both of them working the audience to try to gain support. The various sets had been well designed and painted so that we were in doubt we were in a Pantomime.  They took us from the village, to Dame Foxy Trot’s Dancing school, and in the Second Act to the Giant’s Castle. The inflatable beanstalk did not work for me, it did not look secure, and the harness used on Jack, so that he could ‘climb’ it, was distracting. I expect this was a first night hitch and would have been resolved later. It had all the usual elements of Pantomime with female principal boy, male Dame, Daisy the cow, the Giant, good triumphing over evil, a good custard pie routine, plenty of audience participation, a community song, topical jokes and local references, brightly painted sets and colourful costumes.  Besides the adult characters there was troupe of young children who were village children in the First Act and the creepy crawlies in the Giants Castle in the Second Act. They were confident and well disciplined giving enthusiastic performances. They were given an interesting selection of songs to sing, and their tap dancing number is to be commended. Everyone performed well in the various roles. Jack was portrayed as a ‘cheeky chappy’, full of fun; Jill his love interest tried to keep him on the straight and narrow. Fairy Lettuce worked hard trying to counter the dastardly deeds of the truly evil Stinkwort, who was working for the Giant. The Giant had a larger than life presence and coped well with the stilts giving him extra height. Daisy the cow was well co-ordinated and was loved by the audience. Dame Foxy Trot was always in control, encouraging audience response, working well with the children from the audience who came on stage and coping expertly with the numerous wig and costume changes.  The costumes throughout fitted well and suited the various characters, and combined with makeup contributed to the atmosphere of Pantomime. Lighting, pyrotechnics and sound, particularly the Giant’s voice, were all effective and well cued. There was an interesting choice of songs, which were well executed. The band under the direction of Graham Gill was lively and enthusiastic but always sympathetic to the singers. I imagine rehearsal had been a lot of fun, as the cast were obviously enjoying performing the Pantomime. Director Graham Bill had obviously rehearsed his cast well and prepared them for some unexpected audience responses. This was a good traditional family friendly evening.

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