Jack Off The Beanstalk

One of the best things about Pantomime is the cheeky innuendos and naughty suggestions but I wonder how many people out there are like me and find themselves sitting surrounded by children thinking, “hmm should I be laughing out loud at that or not”!

Well if that describes you then what you need to experience is a good Adult Pantomime and performed with such skill and energy as Hudswell Village Player’s production of Jack Off The Beanstalk was. 

The Society took this very clever script by Northern favourite Tom Whalley and added a huge amount of naughty sparkle to it bringing the Hudswell Village Hall to life with raucous laughter and plenty of raised eyebrow moments.

The Village Hall may be the smallest venue in my District but under the expert direction of Jordan Hamilton-Leighton the performance is one the biggest in terms of energy and skill levels of Pantomime delivery. The small cast seemed to really get behind the production and quite rare these days fully understood how to manage audience reactions. Managing the script with real pace yet knowing where to pause for laughter whilst allowing the audience interaction to boost the performance rather than overwhelm it. 

The Production team really added the colour and sparkle to the performances with stunning costumes made by Nicola Dawson. Every item matched the character perfectly with extra details really bringing the characters to life. The Basque clad Fairy, stocking dressed Jill and Udderly brilliant Cow outfits true examples of how much thought, work and detail had gone into these.

Nate Robinson ensured the Props were stupid enough for the production and the size of some carefully hidden props certainly enhanced individuals' parts!! The CDB Group brought the village hall to life with a wonderful lighting plot, crucial for scene changes in a venue where scenery is at a minimum, they made sure the sound was well balanced and the use of Large Video screens to project the Giants scenes was a great use of minimal space. Everything was managed perfectly overseen by Producer Sophie McGlynn with sell out performances a credit to Publicity Manager Christine Meldon.

The cast of 9 worked wonderfully well together. There has to be so much trust and respect for each other in a production that has this much risky edge to it, both in the line delivery and physical side to scenes and it was evident what a tight group Jordan had brought together. 

Freya Woodward was our sole Ensemble member working numerous roles and did a great job, her interaction with the Principals was excellent and she really brought a bright spark to the scenes. 

Finn Kenna on his debut with Hudswell was genius in his role as King Albert, the costume bringing a Shrek styled Lord Faquard comedy to the role with his Unicorn Wellies and he truly embraced the comedy of trying to manage steps whilst on his knees. The height of his character brought an extra dimension with his positioning next to other Actors waistline allowing for even more sauciness and cracking facial expressions.

Both these two also showed off some good vocals, most notably alongside our villain of the piece, Tracie Birdsall as Fleshlight. The Opening of Act Two and use of Addams family for the baddies song was a great choice and these three really started the Act off with a bang (and plenty of thrusts!).

Tracie did a really good job of the evil role, as servant to the Giant, her monologues were delivered with great pace and the anger in her voice really roused the audience with plenty of Boo’s and hisses being thrown back her way. Her battles with the good (yet spicy) Fairy Flick-Bean played by Amy Fudali did a great job of keeping the story narration on track whilst bringing their own level of naughty rhyming humour to the plot.

Amy, one of just two members who were in the previous Adult Pantomime, again showed her true understanding of how to deliver this edginess without it being too much. Her lines were so tongue in cheek whilst there was this great underlying sexual frustration to her character. Her song “I Put A Spell On You” really showed off the all round abilities of this talented performer.

Talking of frustration, I must give credit to another newbie to the Society, Jade Carney who was brilliantly cast as the slightly dumb yet incredibly naughty Princess Jill. As the King’s daughter her eagerness to have not only Jack but any many she can get her hands on was excellently played whilst the vacant expressions and cheeky grins gave her character such life. Her eyes lit up in every scene drawing you in and wow what a voice this actress has, her rendition of A Change In Me was possibly the only point of the show where the audience were deadly silent. A stunning performance.

Scott Edwards returned to the stage to transform himself into the busty and bold Dame Trott and what a commanding performance he gave. Dazzling in an amazing array of costumes which not only brought the scene to life but perfectly matched the plot Scott showed a masterclass in playing to an audience. Despite his Male target in the audience being a dubious choice Scott’s very naughty lines were delivered with an admirable level of smut and disgust. Scott’s chemistry with all of his cast was genius yet the way he treated his two sons Jack and Simon with complete indifference was genius. Big Spender was the perfect choice for Scott to really strut his stuff with a performance almost as flamboyant as the PVC finale costume.

The dim and silly Simon Trott was played by the brilliant Heidi Bradley who not only brought the stupid jokes and idiocracy to the story but also her only level of naive riskiness. Dressed in full cowboy outfit this was probably her best performance in this comedy role. Not only were her lines delivered with perfect comic timing but she combined physical comedy and delivered an absolute catalogue of excellent facial expressions too. Despite being a rude and sarcastic character you still couldn’t help but feel for Simon especially in her vocally excellent version of I Will Survive where she was pulling at our heart strings.

Our hero of the Production was the famous Jack Trott played to perfection by Nate Robinson. Normally you’d think that some of the overacting (and over use of hand gestures) was too much for a Pantomime however this is Adult Panto and Nate really embraced the naughty side of this. Every other line had an innuendo and every other action had some cheeky suggestion behind it and it worked brilliantly. Often scene stealing whilst not even involved in the action, the off script movement and expressions were delivered with such commitment and energy. I have to say that Nate also delivered the real vocal wow of the night for me. His version of Who I’d Be was not only wonderful in vocal control and tone but full of meaning and passion, quite simply stunning.

Now it’s not often that you leave a Panto where the Cow has been an absolute stand-out performer but I have to say that Alex Caffery in the role was nothing short of sublime. Originally written as just a minor walk on and off character, Jordan as Director saw the potential in the role and Alex’s talents and grew the role. What was delivered was a blunt, obnoxious and sarcastic excellence in performing this brilliant character role. The milking scene was sensational whilst all of the little details in her delivery were so well thought through and performed. For someone who normally finds herself running the book in productions on this occasion she was running the show with one-liners perfectly snappy and a complete look of disapproval in every scene absolutely hysterical. You certainly wouldn’t want to bump into this cow at a Children’s petting Zoo that’s for sure.

Overall the production was as colourful as the language, the character delivery as hot as the chemistry and the bust lines as high as the vocal ranges. The whole show was action packed from start to finish with the big numbers also full of excellent choreography from Scott Edwards who managed to fit detailed routines onto this tiny raised stage. The routines were well worked and looked tight in delivery with movements suggestive without going too far.

If any other Society is considering taking a risk and trying something different then by this showing it definitely is worth the gamble. As long as you have a Production Team and Cast with the same energy and drive as Hudswell then try it. You may offend a few people but by the smiles and laughter I witnessed then Adult Pantomime is a hit. Huge well done, 4 days on from the show and my sides are still hurting and my cheeks aching! I can’t wait for your next production in December.

 

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