Here we go with pantomime number two of the season, and this one is in Harrogate which means that like all good children, I should be home for bedtime. Are you listening, Santa! Like most pantos it is based on a fairy tale, a term coined in France by Madame d’Aulnoy in the late 17th century. It has come to mean any story with magical creatures such as unicorns, giants, witches, wizards etc so not necessarily fairies. Don’t worry, we have one here.
I have just looked at a synopsis for Jack and the Beanstalk as I don’t remember some of the elements in this pantomime as being how I was told it in my childhood, I was right but I will give you the version from the show – which makes sense as that’s was what I was reviewing!
The whole thing kicked off with the Fairy of the Forest – told you – relating the back story about an old couple; he has a magic harp, and she a goose which lays golden eggs, so they are doing very nicely, thank you, until one day they, and their possessions, are lifted up by a huge hand and taken to a castle on a cloud in the sky – where else? The whole episode was captured in a silhouette animation projected onto a cloud-shaped screen. Hardly cctv or Ring doorbell evidence, but it got the point across. Keep that picture in your head as we will come back to it later.
Dora Gee as Jack Trott with the full company.
Meanwhile, at the farm of Dame Tilly Trott, there is a crisis as their shop sells ice cream made from the milk from the sole cow, Verity. Sadly she has stopped providing the raw material so Dame Tilly and her son Jack are in dire financial straits. Verity is not a common bovine moniker, but, by sheer coincidence, one it shares with a sponsor of the show, Verity Frearson, a local estate agent, whose name crops up in various guises throughout. Product placement at its most subtle.
This also has repercussions for Silly Simon, as he uses his bike to distribute the ice cream to customers, trading under the name Delivermoo, see what he did there. Reluctantly Dame Tilly decides that she must sell Verity so sends Jack to the market to do the deed. En route they come across a mysterious figure who offers to buy the beast for a bag of magic beans. Jack agrees and goes home. The purchaser turns out to be the villain of the piece, a chap called Fleshcreep. He is in league with the Giant who lifted the hapless couple in the cartoon, and wants the farm for himself, so making them bankrupt and homeless means that he will get the premises for next to nothing. This is even more of a bargain when combined with the very reasonable rates charged by Verity Frearson, who will obviously be handling the transaction. Actually, I have no idea what their rate is, but I thought that they might like to sponsor this article as well. Yeah, right!
Obviously, when Jack gets home and shows Dame Tilly the beans, she goes ballistic and throws them into the well. Jack takes solace with his best friend, Princess Jill, the daughter of King Bumble, who is a good man, but the brother of the dastardly Fleshcreep.
The following morning, the occupants of the farm awake to the sight of a huge beanstalk growing from the well and reaching up to the clouds, coincidentally terminating at the one where the Giant’s castle is situated. It is a very desirable residence with lots of rooms and maintained to a very high standard – as it would be on a cloud.. Details can be found in the latest brochure from Verity Frearson.
Jack leads the way up the beanstalk
Jack, Silly Simon, Princess Jill and King Bumble decide to scale the beanstalk to see what is at the top, and enter the castle, guided by the Giant’s cook, Morag, who has a broad Scottish accent which leaves Silly Simon baffled – as do most things. On entering the premises they pass through the impressive entrance hall and into a spacious living room, ideal for family use, entertaining or just relaxing by the large open fire. Jack and Silly Simon see the golden eggs and the magic harp but they are disturbed by the entrance of the Giant, so hide. Fear not, the residence comes with vacant possession and is freehold – flying freehold, obviously.
The Giant falls asleep, so the pair have another look, but the arrival of the rest of the party wakes him up meaning they have to hide again. There follows a lot of running around and the Giant goes back to sleep. The Magic Harp can talk, and in doing so, wakes the ogre once more. Eventually, all four intrepid travellers make their escape, chased down the beanstalk by the Giant. When they get to the bottom Jack gets his axe and chops down the growth, causing the Giant to come careering to earth, ending upside down in the well, and meeting his doom. Please be assured that planning permission has been obtained from the local authority to install a lift from the ground to the castle, so access to the property will be greatly improved.
The whole thing ends happily with Morag giving Dame Tilly and Jack several golden eggs to finance the farm, Fleshcreep turning over a new leaf by returning Verity to them, and Jack and Princess Jill becoming an item, with the blessing of King Bumble.
Castle viewings are available by appointment.
You will be pleased to know that the estate agent comments are now ended. You had better buckle up though as the other main sponsor is VetDentist, who do exactly what it says on the drill.
Elouise Warboys as Princess Jill, Tim Steadman – Silly Simon, Harry Wyatt – Dame Tilly Trott, and Dora Gee as Jack give some more publicity to the sponsor. The name has been altered as they are selling the cow shed – Geddit?
As you should know by now, pantomime is less about the stories and more about the presentation. This traditional offering follows the tried and tested path of having a Dame, a Stooge, a Good Fairy, a love interest, a member of the audience and, vitally, a villain. Children are normally encouraged to lay off the booze, but this is one area where boos are mandatory.
After the Fairy of the Forest’s introduction, Silly Simon took to the stage and gave us a string of jokes fresh from the Antiques Road Show, most of which went down well, others were like pulling teeth, speaking of which, I should have asked someone from VetDentist whether cats have canines. Anyway, as well as the comedy schtick we were all taught a greeting which would be exchanged each time he appeared on stage. Everyone had to shout, ‘I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!’ OK, Shakespeare it isn’t, but it worked. Actually it was a milestone as Tim Steadman – Silly Simon – was marking his 25th year of playing the fool. Congratulations to both you and your jokes for longevity.
Dame Tilly Trott, played by Harry Wyatt, was just as hilarious and, as is also the tradition, had an outfit for every occasion. To my friends overseas, the fact that the Dame is played by a man and the Principal Boy, by a woman, is nothing to do with self-identification, it has been thus for centuries. This brings me to Jack Trott, played by Dora Gee, who managed to keep her dignity, even though she did the daftest thing of the night by trading the cow. That was as stupid as performing the extraction of a fang from a viper without using anaesthetic – on either the snake or yourself.
Elouise Warboys played the equally sedate Princess Jill giving the whole piece a bit of yin to the yang. There was some multitasking going on, with Michael Lambourne, yes – a man doing two things at once – who must have serious personality issues, as he was both the evil Fleshcreep in green attire, and switching to a little red number when taking the role of his brother, King Bumble. Fairy of the Forest and Morag, were both played by Shannon Rewcroft, who not only switched personalities, but accents as well, ey up, the noo.
A face-off between Shannon Rewcroft as Fairy of the Forrest and Michael Lambourne as Fleshcreep
There were two other actors involved, both of whom you will probably know; Matt Berry from Toast of London, The IT Crowd and What We Do in the Shadows, provided the voice of the Giant and Maisie Adam, the stand-up and panel show regular, who was the voice of the Magic Harp.
That only leaves the unsuspecting victim in the audience, who was flirted with outrageously by Dame Tilly, but whose moment in the spotlight, literally, came when Silly Sam asked him if he would conduct the band while he went to get changed for the big finish. He did so with enthusiasm and aplomb, rather than the trepidation of waiting for a Rottweiler to wake up after having its teeth sharpened.
Every part of the production was impressive, but special mention must be made of a couple of special effects. The first, when the characters were scaling the beanstalk was treated as an old Nintendo game, and the incredible Giant which was enormous but moved like a normal human, if a little slower. I have no idea as to how it was done, and don’t really care, it was splendid.
Once again, the panto managed to lift an old boy’s spirits on a cold dark night, seeing him through until he could raise another spirit when he got home. Oops! I didn’t mean to write that Santa, So, get along to this great show and – as you are taught at pet dental school – when operating on duck, don’t get down in the mouth.
Jack and the Beanstalk runs until Sunday, 18th January, 2026 so please go to https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk to find out more about this show and others coming to Harrogate Theatre, as well as to get your tickets. If you need even more incentive, but I don’t see why you should, if you go to one of the weekday afternoon performances – they are not solely for schools – you will be given a free ice cream. Don’t worry it won’t be Delivermooed by Silly Simon.
Tyke It To The Limit 