Jack and the Beanstalk

The end of the pantomime season is shortly upon us, but for Tamworth the fun has only just begun with the opening of their offering of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The Trott family are struggling to make ends meet on their family’s dairy farm and when Jack is forced to sell their beloved cow Daisy, things turn from bad to worse, as he is tricked into receiving a bag of beans as payment. So, the battle is on to climb the beanstalk, defeat the Giant and his evil minion Fleshcreep, rescue Daisy and save the Trott farm!

Written and directed by Sam Beech, (alongside Harry Hanslow and who additionally appears as Simon Trott), the story is fairly well written and contains some traditional jokes as well as newer style material. The set (with back cloth design by Emma Freeth) is basic, but does the job of transporting us from farm to Giant’s lair well enough.

Undoubtedly, the best written character role is Daisy the Cow, played by Olivia-Joy Shepherd. Shepherd’s performance is very natural and contains the right balance of funny and dramatic. The character is instantly adorable for all audience ages and clearly a firm favourite throughout the performance.

Fleshcreep, played by Ricardo Alexander and Fairy Flora, played by Lauren Margaret both have some nice moments, but the addition to the story of their previous romantic relationship doesn’t really sit right and feels unnecessary.

The titular role of Jack Trott is played by William Witt, who puts in both a competent and confident performance and Chelsie Faulks as Jill Crumble really comes into focus in Act 2, although it is unfortunate she doesn’t have a more solid part to play earlier on.

Many of the costumes are pleasant on the eye, but unfortunately this is let down by the Dames outfits. Pantomime is renowned for its outrageous and plainly ridiculous Dame attire, but these give the impression of being poorly and hurriedly made and do not capture the expected nature of the genre.

Additionally, bringing to the audience’s attention flaws in the script and a noisy power source for the beanstalk really don’t do the piece the justice it deserves and being able to see dancers messing about in the wings and obviously pushing each other on to stage early, makes the piece seem unprofessional and draws attention away from what is happening on stage.

The 12 days of Tamworth, apparently world famous (?!) was possibly one of the most violent adaptations of a Christmas song that has ever been seen. What began as a funny part of the show, quickly became increasing uncomfortable and the cast appeared to have no control over the audience participation, to the point where the jokes that were happening on stage as part of the scene were lost completely as the audience focus was elsewhere.

Overall, what potentially could have been a fun family night out, just became a stack of disappointing situations and let itself down.

This show was reviewed on the 4th January at the Assembly Rooms, Tamworth where it plays until the 18th January 2026: HOME | tamworthpanto

Review written by Rachel Louise Martin

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