Jack and the Beanstalk

Synopsis

Jack, a dim boy, sells the family's cow, their last remaining possession, for some 'magic beans', his mother is furious and throws them out of the window. Next morning there is a magic beanstalk, which Jack climbs to the land of the giant. There he rescues the love interest, and the goose that lays the golden eggs and runs away as the giant returns booming 'fee, fie, foe, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman!' and occasionally 'Be he alive or be he dead I'll grind his bones to make my bread' depending on how bloodthirsty the panto is! As the giant follows Jack down the beanstalk Jack grabs an axe and chops it down thus killing the him.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 6 December 2010

The good folks of “Hackneydale” should be fine during the cold spell: they have a huge fire to warm themselves by, and the fire is called Clive Rowe, Dame Daisy in a fur-edged gingham milking dress who pulls one leg, then pulls the “udder” one, and ensures that the milk in your bottle is “past your eyes” not to say pasteurised.

Yes, it’s pantomime time in the great Frank Matcham pleasure dome on Mare Street, and Susie McKenna has produced another fantastic fable of fun and adventure down on the farm and at the top of the beanstalk, where the Giant Blunderbore, as big as a row of houses, is outsmarted by honest Jack and his sweetheart Sweet Pea.

Everything is true and traditional, as usual, in McKenna’s assemblage of colourful front cloths, cheerful dance routines and the heart-rending separation of Dame Daisy – cue big chorus of Harry Nillson’s “Without You” – and the pantomime cow, Butter...

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Latest User Review

Gareth James - 2 January 2011:

Back to Hackney Empire for the second year running to end the year at their now legendary panto. This Victorian theatre is made for panto and you can’t but get caught up in the excited anticipation of the full house. Before the curtain has risen on Susie McKenna’s production, you feel part of a community even if you don’t know another soul in the building. This year’s concoction has Jaygann Ayeh an unfeasibly lovable Jack, his naive cute friend Silly Billy (David Roberts) and Chloe Taylor’s Off Her Trolly Molly infatuated with Jack and loved by Billy. Vegetable references abound with the good fairy Sweet Pea (Abigail Rosser) and baddies Runner Bean, panto veteran Tony Whittle and Broad Bean, Jenny Dale. Then there’s Dame Daisy, the larger than life Clive Rowe who is now so at home as a dame he may be in his own groundhog day, struggling to get back to legit plays and musicals! Add in an excellent beanstalk, a Shrek-like giant, a hip-hop snowman (Kat B), the customary cow and a singing gold harp! Yes, a singing gold harp! We even get a small troop of dancing flowers and dancing vegetables. I thought we got a few too many references to TV and too many familiar pop songs this year, but this is a bit of a niggle when what we have after all is the real deal – proper panto rather than celeb-laden mediocrity. It’s only the second year I’ve been to Hackney on New Years Eve afternoon singing Auld Lang Syne arm-in-arm with the good folk of East London, but I have a suspicion it’s already a tradition. Bliss....

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