Wendy Parkin Website

Jack and the Beanstalk Review

'Poptastic' panto is a real party

Jack And The Beanstalk - the rock'n'roll panto, by Peter Rowe and Alan Ellis, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, until January 24

"IT'S Panto, Jim, but not as we know it." So'Dr Bones might have commented to Captain Kirk as the USS Enterprise (along with Concorde and a Mars bar) sailed by as Jack finally got to the top of the beanstalk.

And he would have a point.

With the Wolsey show you don't get large-scale production numbers, cute pantomime babes, communal song sheet or C-list celebrities stuffed in a costume and expected to act.

What you do get is an astonishingly talented cast, great songs, clever sets that transform from a cloudscape into a giant's castle in the blink of an eye, and possibly one of the finest dames in the business.

We are not short-changed on plot, either. Peter Rowe, who also directs, and Alan Ellis make sure the slapstick and songs (and there are plenty) never overshadow the story.

Jonny Hynes, as Jack, and Kirsty Malpass, as Jill, the squire's daughter he plans to marry, make an appealing couple, and have the audience, especially the kids, rooting for the them from the word go.

When the squire (whacky Duncan Wisbey) calls off the wedding because Jack's mum, Dame Dolly can't pay the rent, Jack is forced to sell the family cow, Bessie.

The parting scene between Dame Dolly and Bessie - what a moo-ver! - is milked for every possible laugh.

We all know the rest of the tale, but it is still genuinely exciting, especially when the beanstalk spectacularly grows, and Jack earns wild applause when he climbs to the very top.

Wonderful baddies try to prevent the (inevitable) happy ending: the impressive Giant Blunderbore himself - a larger-than-life performance from Rowan Talbot - the serpentine Fleshcreep, Johnson Willis looking like a cross between Darth Maul and Richard O'Brien, and Rebekah Hughes, huge-footed as the Giant's wife.

But, of course, they don't stand a chance against the forces of good, not with the Good Fairy Aubergine on your side. Wendy Parkin can certainly belt out a number, although her green credentials were a little suspect - I'm sure her magic leek was genetically modified.

Jason Rowe as the silly Billy with a crush on Jill, and another fine singer, made up the goodies, along with Jack's mum.

Nick Haverson's Dame Dolly is superb. From her first appearance, bemoaning the failings of her late husband (his origami business folded) to his frantic wooing of the squire, Haverson never lets the energy level drop.

His rubber-faced expressions, his spot-on comic tuning and easy rapport with the audience put him in a class of his own.

The songs, including Hit the Road Jack. Get Offa My Cloud. Jumping Jack Flash, and I'll Be There, have the audience clapping, stomping and waving their arms.

The choice of We Will Rock You as an anthem for the giant is simply inspired.

The children in the audience, of whatever age, loved it, screaming and shouting so loudly that the rafters of the New Wolsey shook.

If you have children to take to this show, take them, if not, take the child in yourself. I guarantee a totally poptastic panto.

James Hayward

East Anglian Daily Times - 6th December 2003