It has been some years since I’ve either seen a traditional pantomime or visited the pleasant Staffordshire town of Cannock, so an opportunity to do both on the same trip was not to be missed. I have many happy childhood memories of annual Christmas visits to the panto in my home city of Liverpool; not having any children of my own, the tradition had somewhat lapsed more recently.
Conveniently located in Cannock town centre, The Prince Of Wales Theatre is a modern building with a fairly basic auditorium seating just over 400. It is a friendly and welcoming venue with plenty of people on hand to ensure that everybody can find their way around.
The curtain rises, and we are transported to an eerie castle, high up in the sky, where a deliciously evil villain presides over the nocturnal goings-on. This is Fleshcreep (Stephen Donald) whose greenish pallor and fiendish cackle are entirely in keeping with his position as sidekick to a wicked giant who has, allegedly, overthrown the King and subjected the people of the valley below to such misery that they are only allowed one day of happiness per year.
Next, we meet Fairy Bee (Rebecca Avery) who is Fleshcreep’s diametric opposite: bright, sparkling and beautiful with a radiant smile and (of course) a magic wand. We learn a bit about the story’s roots in the Viking tale of Jack The Giant Killer before being introduced to the Dimplebottoms: Dame Dolly Dimplebottom (Keith De’Winter), magnificently ugly complete with outrageous wig, neon costumes and glittery Doc Martin boots, and her two sons Billy and Jack.
Silly Billy (George Critchley, also the writer, director and producer of the show) acts as the warm-up man with his catchphrase “Hiya kids!” each time he comes on. He is in love with Princess Jill (Morgan Hughes), but of course it’s his brother Jack (Michael Ruben) who is the hero and you don’t need me to tell you who is going to get the girl in the end. Oh no, you don’t!
The Dimplebottoms are poor, so poor in fact that as Billy tells us “when we go to KFC we have to lick other people’s fingers!”, and in the end the only thing for it is to sell their beloved cow Daisy. When Jack meets a French onion-seller on a bicycle who offers him a bag of gold for the animal, it seems too good to be true. Of course Jack takes the gold, not realising that the Frenchman is actually the villainous Fleshcreep in disguise and the nuggets are, in fact, (altogether now…) beans!
With a bit of help from Fairy Bee’s wand, the beans grow into a beanstalk and act one ends.
Sadly – and I genuinely hope this proves to be an aberration – the auditorium was only about half full for this Saturday evening performance which coincided with bitter weather and a major football match as well as the cost-of-living crisis which is frequently referenced in the script. This made it feel that the actors, especially Critchley, were working harder than they should to generate the right level of audience reaction. Pantomime depends on audience participation to a greater degree than most theatre and this had felt slightly flat at times.
Act Two begins in the castle where Fleshcreep is holding Princess Jill hostage in the hope of securing a ransom for her release. Fleshcreep leads the cast in a performance of “The Timewarp”, showcasing Donald’s talents as a singer and dancer (not to mention his legs!) and giving the older members of the audience something to join in with.
The Dimplebottoms and Fairy Bee have a hilarious run-in with a ghost in the castle before settling down to the serious business of rescuing the Princess who may – or may not – be about to join the Giant for dinner, as it were. Up to now the Giant’s booming voice has only been heard from off-stage but now we see him for the first time, a remarkable creation about eight feet tall, brought to life by Lee Goode.
Who is really pulling all the strings? Is the Giant as terrible as he’s been made out to be? Will the hero save the Princess? Of course he will, come on, it’s a pantomime!
'Jack And The Beanstalk' is great fun for all the family but, more than that, it is a wonderful example of the magic of theatre and a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make it happen. Costume designer Irene Whitehall in particular has excelled with some superb costumes – and there are a lot of costume changes in this show. The music, provided by Nikki Laurence and Sam Shaw is great too, mixing well-known tracks with original material. The young dancers from Studio 5 in Rugeley have to be congratulated too and I suspect that from amongst them will emerge some of the stars of the future.
It's obvious that the cast are all having great fun throughout – Avery in particular is never without a beaming smile – and the audience loved it too with lots of cheering and applause as the finale drew to its close. I hope that there will be plenty of full houses to enjoy this first-rate traditional entertainment over the Christmas season!
'Jack And The Beanstalk' is presented by PMA Productions and runs at the Prince Of Wales Theatre, Cannock, until 28th December 2022.
Reviewer - Ian Simpson
on - 17.12.22
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