REVIEW | Jack and the Beanstalk, Core Theatre Solihull
Written by Katie
Disclaimer: gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
Never has the phrase ‘The show must go on’ meant more to the team at The Core Theatre, Solihull. After the dreaded RAAC caused so many of their shows to have no choice but to cancel, they have been fortunate enough to secure a contract with the Artrix Arts Centre in Bromsgrove, which meant this year's panto also had a new home! And with just 3 months notice to make those changes happen, they did a cracking job!
Jack and The Beanstalk seems to be an incredibly popular show choice for pantos everywhere this season, and this goes for Solihull / Bromsgrove too, who have once again teamed up with the award-winning Little Wolf Entertainment to present their take on it. Like most pantos, the plot only very marginally resembles any kind of classic story we have heard before, and spends most of the time just going rogue- but this is one of those key elements that is responsible for so much joy! In this adaptation, we are whisked away to the funfair, and with it comes a whole host of fairground related puns.
Laura Porter does an excellent job at bringing the stage to life as ‘Fairy Ground’ and sets the scene beautifully, speaking always in slick and carefully crafted rhyme. Later in the show, it became increasingly obvious that her vocals belong on a West End stage and she, for me, is a stand out talent, matched only by the voice of David Breeds as Jack Trott. His character is bursting with energy and enthusiasm and he is really the full package when it comes to a theatre triple threat.
Back again for Little Wolf Productions, Morgan Philpott is also a show stealer as this year’s dame ‘Helga Skelter’. The jokes landed, the audience banter was on point, and the extravagance was unmatched. Whether in an aeroplane, digger, or teapot frock, this character was fabulous, darling!
I also have to give huge props to Isaac Elder, as Simple Simon, who made his professional debut for this performance. He held the stage effortlessly and did a really great job of connecting with the audience and creating a really loveable character for us to play along with. Great work!
The wonderful thing about pantos is the opportunities they give to up and coming young performers to experience the professional theatre world. This production has a group of 6 young ensemble on rotation in 3 different groups, and for this particular show, I saw the ‘Baked Beans’. They bring brilliant energy and unmistakable talent to the show, popping up to add a bit of oomph at the key points in the storyline. Always seeming to conveniently be arranged in size order, these guys are sure to have wonderful futures ahead of them on stage!
That being said, I felt there was somewhat of a gap in there for an adult ensemble to work alongside these young dancers and just give it a slightly more mature lift. It would be interesting to know if all Little Wolf shows lack these additional performers.
This was a show of 2 halves. Act 1 brought us a bit of confusion, I must say. It felt as though at times they were too conscious about ticking off all the panto gimmicks that they forgot what they were actually doing there. This was quite jarring, as we didn’t have time to breathe between each chaotic panto stereotype, but thankfully this was definitely redeemed in Act 2. The second half was lovely and smooth, with clarity in the jokes, storyline and overall direction. It brought us some super moments, including a glow in the dark quest, an ensemble number to Kylie’s iconic ‘Padam, Padam’ and a choreographed fight scene with the enormous giant ‘Fun Sponge’.
There were a couple of scenes that could have benefited from having a bit of music to prevent them from going stagnant. I am thinking particularly of the water pistols, and the ice cream parlour, which might have worked in a bigger theatre with a larger audience to create the volume, but here didn’t quite reach the desired buzz level on its own.
It is really heartwarming to see what a community and family focus this production has, with no gimmicks or big names to get the bums on seats, just an exceptionally loyal audience. This is a really great example of British panto, and although there were some moments which left something to be desired, this is a show not to be missed by any family, especially as we get closer to Christmas day! This UDDERly ridiculous and unBEANlievable show is sure to be a carou-sell out!
It is on at The Artrix until 7th January 2024.
