This year, in the theatres 4th year of producing an in-house professional panto, they are bringing to you, Jack And The Beanstalk, the famous old story of a mother, Dame Trott (Pete Toon) and son, Jack (Thomas Cotran) strapped for cash, thanks to an evil cloud-dwelling giant, and his nasty henchman, Gru-sum (James McLean). When things go from bad to worse, they end up selling their prized and beloved cow, Pat (Emily Spowage) *pause for giggling* to a stranger for some magic beans, which grow into a giant beanstalk that allows Jack to climb up to the clouds, defeat the giant and bring back the good times to the town of (H)Udders.
At precisely just after half past 6, Fairy Fortuna Fullobeans, (Hayley Russell) a mere bean-seller, appeared on stage to narrate the show, with an assortment of alliterations, and a time for rhyme, we were away into pantoland and swiftly introduced to the cast, the villagers and our hero Jack, a visit from the Princess Jill (Alyce Liburd), and a quick rendition of Footloose, we were rudely interrupted by Gru-sum, who was met with a torrent of abuse and booing, he threatened the town, and then left in a flamboyant flurry. We then met the King, King Crackpot (Joyce Branagh) who came to settle the townsfolk down. The story went on, with a lot of silliness, slapstick comedy and bad jokes, and we ended up in a milking parlour, with Dame Trott having just turned the milk sour. This scene was a personal highlight, as it was panto comedy at its purest. 6 minutes of slapstick physical comedy, bad jokes and the King being covered in yoghurt, but to save you from spoilers, I’ll not say any more, just that I found myself giggling like a schoolchild throughout. As I said before, Jack ends up having to sell his best friend, Pat, to afford the taxes set by the giant. Troubles happened, and Jack returned with the beans. Tossed aside by Dame Trott only to find a beanstalk there the next day.
Act 2 was mostly in Cloudland, we were introduced to Gru-sums henchmen, a group of children (from Adele Taylor Dance, and True Talent Theatre School) who had been chipped and programmed to respond to his x-box controller. Infiltrated by Trott and the King, in a ploy to get control of the children, we see another comedy scrap ending in Gru-sum being slapped about a bit. Meanwhile, Jack, and his newfound confidence, had gone ahead to try and retrieve Jill, and Pat, who had ended up in the Giant’s palace. A bit of filler as Gru-sum attempts to brain swap Jill and Pat, followed by the big escape scene. Underneath the Giant’s giant table, was a giant mousehole, which our heroes escaped through, and after battling the Giant, escaped back down to the town, and all was well once again. They chopped down the beanstalk, and never had another issue from the Giant. Then, (whilst the whole cast got changed into their coronation outfits) we had some audience interaction, Dame Trott and Pat had a singing competition, singing ‘Sweet Cow-of-Mine’ (Caroline) sadly, my side of the audience lost out, although not for a lack of trying!
Now to the technical bits...!
The stage was set brilliantly. So vibrant, and although there wasn’t much in the way of set, it was still effective and just what was needed, as the focus was fully on the acting. Having said that, the use of tabs and curtains did play a big part, but they only enhanced the show, from my perspective. The lighting on stage was a wash of colour, and highly complimentary of the onstage action, a feat that is often over-complicated and treated in a way that ends up detracting, but not here, it was just right for the show. Teamed with the music and sound effects that gave the show another lift into excellence. Well done to MD, Robert Cooper for his arrangements and settings.
The show featured several cast routines, all quite involved, that the whole cast grasped, and performed with confidence, along with the blocking, (that’s a theatre word for where to stand in a scene) which was sometimes quite involved, especially during the comedy scenes. Director and choreographer, Rachel Gee, can be enormously proud of her cast for tackling the work head-on and coming out on top.
I had a wonderful evening giggling away at the back of the theatre tonight, 95% of the jokes landed and got a response, the singing was excellent, the acting was bold, and the silliness was off the chart (oh no it wasn’t) Oh, yes it was! This show is a real old school panto, silliness, storytelling, slapstick, baddies, romance, local banter! What more could you possibly want?
The LBT’s Jack And The Beanstalk really will be one of the hottest tickets in town once the word of its brilliance gets around, so be sure to get your ticket and get down there to support a local theatre!
Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 6.12.22
At precisely just after half past 6, Fairy Fortuna Fullobeans, (Hayley Russell) a mere bean-seller, appeared on stage to narrate the show, with an assortment of alliterations, and a time for rhyme, we were away into pantoland and swiftly introduced to the cast, the villagers and our hero Jack, a visit from the Princess Jill (Alyce Liburd), and a quick rendition of Footloose, we were rudely interrupted by Gru-sum, who was met with a torrent of abuse and booing, he threatened the town, and then left in a flamboyant flurry. We then met the King, King Crackpot (Joyce Branagh) who came to settle the townsfolk down. The story went on, with a lot of silliness, slapstick comedy and bad jokes, and we ended up in a milking parlour, with Dame Trott having just turned the milk sour. This scene was a personal highlight, as it was panto comedy at its purest. 6 minutes of slapstick physical comedy, bad jokes and the King being covered in yoghurt, but to save you from spoilers, I’ll not say any more, just that I found myself giggling like a schoolchild throughout. As I said before, Jack ends up having to sell his best friend, Pat, to afford the taxes set by the giant. Troubles happened, and Jack returned with the beans. Tossed aside by Dame Trott only to find a beanstalk there the next day.
Act 2 was mostly in Cloudland, we were introduced to Gru-sums henchmen, a group of children (from Adele Taylor Dance, and True Talent Theatre School) who had been chipped and programmed to respond to his x-box controller. Infiltrated by Trott and the King, in a ploy to get control of the children, we see another comedy scrap ending in Gru-sum being slapped about a bit. Meanwhile, Jack, and his newfound confidence, had gone ahead to try and retrieve Jill, and Pat, who had ended up in the Giant’s palace. A bit of filler as Gru-sum attempts to brain swap Jill and Pat, followed by the big escape scene. Underneath the Giant’s giant table, was a giant mousehole, which our heroes escaped through, and after battling the Giant, escaped back down to the town, and all was well once again. They chopped down the beanstalk, and never had another issue from the Giant. Then, (whilst the whole cast got changed into their coronation outfits) we had some audience interaction, Dame Trott and Pat had a singing competition, singing ‘Sweet Cow-of-Mine’ (Caroline) sadly, my side of the audience lost out, although not for a lack of trying!
Now to the technical bits...!
The stage was set brilliantly. So vibrant, and although there wasn’t much in the way of set, it was still effective and just what was needed, as the focus was fully on the acting. Having said that, the use of tabs and curtains did play a big part, but they only enhanced the show, from my perspective. The lighting on stage was a wash of colour, and highly complimentary of the onstage action, a feat that is often over-complicated and treated in a way that ends up detracting, but not here, it was just right for the show. Teamed with the music and sound effects that gave the show another lift into excellence. Well done to MD, Robert Cooper for his arrangements and settings.
The show featured several cast routines, all quite involved, that the whole cast grasped, and performed with confidence, along with the blocking, (that’s a theatre word for where to stand in a scene) which was sometimes quite involved, especially during the comedy scenes. Director and choreographer, Rachel Gee, can be enormously proud of her cast for tackling the work head-on and coming out on top.
I had a wonderful evening giggling away at the back of the theatre tonight, 95% of the jokes landed and got a response, the singing was excellent, the acting was bold, and the silliness was off the chart (oh no it wasn’t) Oh, yes it was! This show is a real old school panto, silliness, storytelling, slapstick, baddies, romance, local banter! What more could you possibly want?
The LBT’s Jack And The Beanstalk really will be one of the hottest tickets in town once the word of its brilliance gets around, so be sure to get your ticket and get down there to support a local theatre!
Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 6.12.22
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