Jack and the Beanstalk

I know I will always see a high quality pantomime at Marlborough and so it was again this time. For the first time an Alan Frayn script was being used by the group. I have used his scripts for over ten years now with my own group, and was very familiar with this script having directed it twice over the years including only last year, and having seen it performed by another group only the week before. It was interesting to see yet another take on this script.

Unlike seeing different version of a musical, which all tend to look alike, every pantomime group has it’s own traditions and take on the genre and so variety is very much the spice of life.

Jules is a very well organised director who doesn’t leave much to chance and the entire production was very well drilled and, within the scenes, very slick. Where pace could have been improved was in the transition from scene to scene where at times we were left with silent pauses where there was no musical cover for scene changes. I would suggest planning such musical cover to ensure continuity. I like a panto to have continuous sound, be it dialogue, singing, or musical cover.

Musical numbers were well delivered by a large enthusiastic company who filled this limited stage to overflowing and delivered the numbers with much energy. They were well supported by an excellent band of 7 players. I would have liked more input from the percussionist in supporting prat falls and other comedy routines with the usual crashes and bangs. In fact the percussionist should be the most overworked member of the band !!

Choreography was well planned with so many people to organise in such a small space and all credit for this. All the musical numbers hit the mark. If it had been me I would have cut most of the numbers to about 1.5 minutes maximum to be sure that they did not outstay their welcome but as the quality was good this did not matter. However where shorter musical numbers have a positive effect is in shortening the show. I did feel a 10.20 finish was a bit long, but once again, because the quality was good, it didn’t really matter.

As always here, there were some great performances. Sarah Montague was an energetic Jack and played the part “straight” without sending it up. She was most sincere and I liked that. She was well partnered by a vivacious and feisty Princess played by Rebekah Jarvis. Rob Gidley was a gentle and lovable Dame and he was well partnered by Gaby Clarke who was a daft but lively Simple Simon. Caroline Sheard came across very well as the Wicked Witch and presented her difficult rhyming verse very well indeed, as did Fairy Sugardust (Lucy Booker).

In this script, while the Dame is virtually the biggest role along with Simple Simon, the comic pair has a lot to do and this time it was Snatchet and Scarper, the hapless henchmen played by MAD regular Joe Tapper and newcomer Annelese Murray. They worked well together and had some good by play. MAD Regular Dan Sinnot revelled in the role of Rancid the Ratman, looking very weasel like with his effective make up.

The King and Queen always provide a nice gentle surreal couple in this script and Jill Clarke certainly had a toy boy in Ed Griffiths although visually they looked good together so one would never have guessed that he was a bit younger than her!!! It’s often the little things that matter and the queen carrying a handbag at all times was one of these. Those that know Jill, know that this is VERY relevant (if you’ve ever been verbally hand bagged by her … as I have … ) In this script the giant is virtually a cameo role apart from voice over’s throughout and he was presented as a sort of wizard of oz creation. Once we met him he had a squeaky child’s voice and was actually smaller than Simple Simon. I gather that this wasn’t altogether intended but it worked well and I found it fun to watch. The royal equerry Humphrey was given good measure by Andrew Hurrell. This script calls for a cow, as always with this story, and Buttermilk (Abbie Wood and Bethan Tucker) sweated it out in the skin to good effect.

The joy of a large company is that all the tiny bit parts can be taken by different people and it was good to see many young faces taking centre stage for their moments of glory. This can so easily be cringe worthy, but not here as everyone had the sufficient ability and talent.

Once again the audience gave the show a great reception. This is one of the annual highlights in this part of deepest rural south hams and I am always amazed at what talent is lurking in the shadows of the Marlborough, Kingsbridge and Salcombe district.

Despite my constructive criticisms earlier, this was a great show that I could have sat through all over again.

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