REVIEW: Jack and the Beanstalk, Liverpool Playhouse

Panto. Same thing every year, right? Yet somehow, the Playhouse has managed to take the festive art form to another level yet again. If you’re going to see a big Christmas show in Liverpool this year, it has to be this one.

 

The traditional Everyman rock ‘n’ roll panto was moved to the Playhouse last year and settled into its new surrounds to fantastic effect, but it was a novelty and there was always the feeling it was only on loan. This year, it is made to measure and then some. Everything is twice as big, bold, colourful — and silly.

 

Regular writers Mark Chatterton and Sarah A Nixon take a few liberties with the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk to create the story they want to tell, but it pays off. Designer Dinah England’s set bursts with colour and unexpected treats; Tayo Akinbode once again has chosen the most enjoyable and unexpected mix of pop songs through the decades to integrate into the plot (Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, anyone?); and Jacquie Davies’s beautiful costumes are a delight, from cutie pie fairy dresses to the outrageous panto dame.

 

Speaking of which, regular dame Francis Tucker is inimitable as ever as Jack’s mum, Mary (from the dairy); but it’s partner-in-crime Adam Keast who steals the show this time as his love interest Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west (of Kirby). There’s breaking the fourth wall – this is panto, after all – and then there’s Keast’s own brand of corpsing, ad libbing, sneaking in jokes for the grown ups and general professional mucking about that always makes watching the pair of them one of the highlights of the year.

 

They are assisted by one of the strongest casts to ever take on the unique challenges of the rock ‘n’ roll panto, who not only act and sing but rotate in their spots in the house band (even Tucker is to be found, in bra and bearing huge tattoos, behind the drumkit between his scenes).

 

Marianne Benedict is superb in the duel roles of good and bad fairies Betsy Bubbles and villain Esmerelda; Griffin Stevens is camp and great fun as a baddie so bad, he’s simply called Cad; and Aretha Ayeh shows off a remarkable voice as songbird Alana. Toby Lord is a likeable Jack, and Carla Freeman adorable in multiple roles including Pat the cow (I just got that one).

 

So. You’ve got a pretty cow on her very own moo-ped, dresses made of inflatable cheeses, a milk truck that goes into space, a full on version of Hawkwind’s Silver Machine, slow fight scenes, love, laughs, and a squirrel you will never forget. And that’s just for starters. If you need to shake off the winter blues, there’s only one thing for it.

 

Jack and the Beanstalk runs until January 19, 2013.

 

Picture by Robert Day

REVIEW: Jack and the Beanstalk, Liverpool Playhouse

Panto. Same thing every year, right? Yet somehow, the Playhouse has managed to take the festive art form to another level yet again. If you’re going to see a big Christmas show in Liverpool this year, it has to be this one.

 

The traditional Everyman rock ‘n’ roll panto was moved to the Playhouse last year and settled into its new surrounds to fantastic effect, but it was a novelty and there was always the feeling it was only on loan. This year, it is made to measure and then some. Everything is twice as big, bold, colourful — and silly.

 

Regular writers Mark Chatterton and Sarah A Nixon take a few liberties with the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk to create the story they want to tell, but it pays off. Designer Dinah England’s set bursts with colour and unexpected treats; Tayo Akinbode once again has chosen the most enjoyable and unexpected mix of pop songs through the decades to integrate into the plot (Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, anyone?); and Jacquie Davies’s beautiful costumes are a delight, from cutie pie fairy dresses to the outrageous panto dame.

 

Speaking of which, regular dame Francis Tucker is inimitable as ever as Jack’s mum, Mary (from the dairy); but it’s partner-in-crime Adam Keast who steals the show this time as his love interest Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west (of Kirby). There’s breaking the fourth wall – this is panto, after all – and then there’s Keast’s own brand of corpsing, ad libbing, sneaking in jokes for the grown ups and general professional mucking about that always makes watching the pair of them one of the highlights of the year.

 

They are assisted by one of the strongest casts to ever take on the unique challenges of the rock ‘n’ roll panto, who not only act and sing but rotate in their spots in the house band (even Tucker is to be found, in bra and bearing huge tattoos, behind the drumkit between his scenes).

 

Marianne Benedict is superb in the duel roles of good and bad fairies Betsy Bubbles and villain Esmerelda; Griffin Stevens is camp and great fun as a baddie so bad, he’s simply called Cad; and Aretha Ayeh shows off a remarkable voice as songbird Alana. Toby Lord is a likeable Jack, and Carla Freeman adorable in multiple roles including Pat the cow (I just got that one).

 

So. You’ve got a pretty cow on her very own moo-ped, dresses made of inflatable cheeses, a milk truck that goes into space, a full on version of Hawkwind’s Silver Machine, slow fight scenes, love, laughs, and a squirrel you will never forget. And that’s just for starters. If you need to shake off the winter blues, there’s only one thing for it.

 

Jack and the Beanstalk runs until January 19, 2013.

 

Picture by Robert Day

REVIEW: Nightmare on Lime Street, Royal Court

Week two of Nightmare on Lime Street, and star of the show David Gest still hasn’t checked in with his paying public. The Royal Court, seemingly lacking a plan B, have handled the situation in an unusual way and chosen not to really acknowledge this on stage – so effectively, his understudy, Anthony Watson, is playing David Gest playing Frankenstein’s monster.

 

Perhaps I just didn’t get the joke, but this willingness to ignore the obvious was something of a theme of the show. Perhaps too much had been riding on charismatic Gest having the audience too busy eating out of his hand to notice.

 

Nightmare on Lime Street looked seriously good. Designer Mark Walters created a fantastic set that took in the station, an underground lair and the top of the Liver building in turn. Holby City’s Mark Moraghan is always great at hamming up a storm in these kind of situations, and didn’t disappoint as evil Dr Frankenstein; just as Michael Starke always delivers on stage as the loveable everyman, this time paranormal investigator Tommy. Armed with an arsenal of crap jokes, his enthusiastic performance gave the show a little sparkle.

 

Jamie Hampson proved exceptional as our heroine Julie, with a fantastic voice and abundance of charm – her duet of Up on the Roof was beautiful.

 

Fred Lawless’s Christmas shows at the Royal Court are usually especially good; warm, laugh-a-minute tales crammed full of gags and clever, lyrically adapted songs. This time, the numbers were just shoe-horned in pop songs, characters were not fleshed out, and the old way of working was missed – not least of all because the festive element was completely missing, which it hadn’t been in shows past.

 

Royal Court regulars Lindzi Germain and Lenny Wood, who both usually shine in whatever role they take on, were underused – again, possibly toning it down so David Gest could steal the show? Hopefully that is something audiences will get to experience in future, but if I had a ticket for later in the show’s run, I wouldn’t exactly be holding my breath. However, as it turns out, the show is in the safest hands it could be without him, anyway.

 

 

Picture by Dave Evans