Writer: Paul Hendy
Director: Juliet Forster
Since 2021, York Theatre Royal’s pantomime offering has gone from strength to strength. The team are not afraid of shaking things up a bit and trying something from another angle, and for the last two years it has worked. Indeed, so confident are the pantomime production team at York Theatre Royal now, that they are willing to try some new elements within the panto genre and to test out something a little different. Obviously not too different though, they absolutely understand which bits of the panto narrative (or lack thereof) they must keep in and which they can forego in favour of something altogether more interesting.
This year’s panto, Jack and the Beanstalk does just that. Gone are the first 15 minutes of chat, in which each character gets their own scene to say ‘Hiya kids!’ and introduce themselves and how they fit within the character network. Instead a brisk, clever and self-aware little number at the start of the show tells us all exactly who everyone is, what they are doing there and how a panto works. This ratchets both the energy and quite frankly audience interest up a notch and has them on side from the beginning. The ensemble plays a key role from hereon in demonstrating with skill and timing that they are an integral part of almost every scene, and they work as hard as anyone, changing costumes multiple times throughout the show.
It is refreshing to see a pantomime lead character who actually is a woman, rather than a female playing the principle boy role, Jack (Mia Overfield) becomes Jacqueline and she does not (shock, horror) have a love interest or seem even remotely interested in having one. Instead she is very earnestly all about saving the day, saving the environment and ensuring that her dear old mum and brother don’t waste away due to poverty.
Fairy Sugarsnap (Nina Wadia – EastEnders, Citizen Khan, Still Open All Hours, Goodness Gracious Me) and the baddie Luke Backinanger (James Mackenzie) were both strong in their roles, and their talents were well used. Wadia has a nice voice, which was often paired with others to give it more strength, but she held her own throughout and was particularly funny when using rhyming couplets, using the off beat and her own rhythm to divide up the couplets to make them far less tiresome than they would normally be. Mackenzie meanwhile, who was star of BBC’s children’s fantasy game show Raven, can sing, attempt a (purposefully) horrendous Swedish accent and play the trumpet. He is given much more back story as a villain than usual and this works particularly well in setting up the ending of the panto, which does not involve the usual type of defeat.
Billy, Jack’s brother (Matthew Curnier) must get a mention simply for his energy on stage and his ability to deal with whatever is thrown at him – on a couple of occasions the set and props let the cast down (the beanstalk inflated in slow motion over a period of several minutes, and a few of the curtains didn’t do what they were supposed to) but he and seasoned performer and most excellent Robin Simpson as Dame Trott dealt with these first night issues with a raise of the eyebrow and a giggle, making it all the more funny for the audience.
There were two absolutely stand out performances in this show, the first being Robin Simpson. He has as many costume changes as there are scenes he is in and his presence on stage provides a real cohesiveness for the rest of the (frankly sometimes bonkers) antics going on. The cast have clearly bonded well as a group, as Simpson suggests at one stage that Lauren Richardson, one of the ensemble, shows us her weird elbows before she goes off stage – so she does, in all their double jointed glory. It’s the kind of quirky comedy that panto is perfect for. There is also an extended scene based on a new dog training business Dame Trott runs and a subsequent performance of said training. What follows is a master class in comic timing by Simpson with physical comedy and effective use of the gorgeous border collie, Zeus. The audience were crying with laughter and didn’t want it to end.
Finally, the other, and somewhat unexpected stand out performance was that of Anna Soden playing Dave the cow. Yes, cows are meant to be female, but Dave the character is male. However, Soden is not – much is made of the cow with the male name who may or may not have been a she being played by a female. This could have been the main function of Dave the Cow, to provide some light humour, but instead Soden gives the most gorgeous representation of a cow who is clever, brave and has feelings – Dave the cow is not only able to speak in this production, she can sing brilliantly and play the trumpet too. Soden builds instant rapport with the audience and turns a potentially 2D bit part into a key role.
This is a beautifully directed show by Juliet Forster, with a script by Paul Hendy that does have the old favourites included; there is the 26 joke scene with the wheel barrow full of props, and the famed York Theatre Royal bench that comes on for the ghost scene, (‘Well, we’ll have to sing it again then won’t we? Woo!’) but it is also not afraid to add in extra and different levels of fun to keep audiences laughing with surprise. Not one giant but two? Check. A bouncing human tomato? Check. A weather machine that is powered by famous hits about the weather? That’s in there too.
Suffice it to say, York Theatre Royal has done it again – fresh, fun and very very good.
Runs until 7th January 2024.
