Ashcroft Theatre (Fairfield Halls), Croydon
****
Something giant is lurking in the Ashcroft Theatre this season, a pantomime of preposterous proportions. It’s Jack
and The Beanstalk, a spectacular, pun-laden treat for the whole family. Wonderfully
silly and with more energy than a nuclear power station, you’d be a fool to
miss it; I hear there’s a giant on the loose to eat anyone who dares.
Photo: Paul Clapp |
Photo: Paul Clapp |
Highlights from the show included a highly energetic showdown with
giant foam peas being distributed throughout the auditorium, only to be hurled
back onstage by ecstatic children, and a few equally ecstatic adults. But
perhaps the most ingenious moment was a 5-minute sketch between The Dame and
Billy, involving a cart of dairy products and a cascade of cheese-puns, it was
an opus of script writing, udderly ‘Brie’lliant.
Musically this was highly entertaining; there was some incredible
vocal work from the Princess (Gemma Sutton), some not-so incredible vocal work
from Jack (Sloane), but this was completely forgivable in the panto
environment. The songs (with adapted lyrics of course) ranged from a rousing
rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘I Need a Hero’, to Queen’s hand-clappingly
enjoyable ‘We Will Rock You’. A
pre-interval mash up of Miley Cyrus and Elbow made the music snob in me want to
attack someone with a foam pea, but luckily the panto-goer in me let it go and
it was really quite uplifting. A cow also danced to ‘Gangnam Style’, which I
can tell you is sight to behold.
So if you want to throw foam peas at the tallest man in Europe, see
zombie pilots stagger in front of you, and watch a cow dance ‘Gangnam Style’
then really this is the only pantomime that will satisfy this season. Jack and The Beanstalk couldn’t be more
of a sure-fire hit, sticking religiously and unashamedly to the traditions of
panto, without ever being tiresome, it's a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
This production runs until 6 January 2013
For more information: http://www.fairfield.co.uk/showInfo.php?showid=19142
@FairfieldHalls
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