Tis the season - the season of gathering your nearest and dearest and losing yourself in the magic of pantomime. This year's festive offering at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno is Jack and the Beanstalk, written by Tam Ryan, directed by James Robert Moore, and produced by Imagine Theatre.
Moore's script follows closely to the traditional tale, but some elements are quickly skimmed through to incorporate all the ingredients of a good old fashioned pantomime. However, this is not a criticism as audiences can expect naff jokes, audience participation and slapstick fun - all of which is done well by the cast.
Pantomime truly would not be the same without its Dame and Simon Nehan steps into the glitzy shoes of Dame Trott with charisma and confidence. Nehan works the crowd really well and has a great onstage chemistry with John Evans, who plays Dame Trott's son. Together, Nehan and Evans bounce off each other's energy and it's the moments of ad-lib and breaking character that truly stand out. Evans demonstrates a wealth of experience in panto, working the crowd really well and perfecting his comedic timing to gain the audience on side from the offset. It's hard not to be whisked away in the farcical elements of panto with Evans leading the slapstick fun.
Jennifer Ellison is fully in her villain era and gives a captivating performance as Poison Ivy. Ellison fully embraces the heckles from the audience and gives an incredible vocal performance. Alice Mayer is an absolute delight as Fairy and is an absolute joy to watch on stage. Ben Cajee as Jack and Megan- Hollie Robertson as Jill have good chemistry as love interests and bring warmth to the storyline. Robertson gives a standout vocal performance particularly in Taylor Swift's Love Story. Mark Beauchamp gives a fun performance as the hysterical and over the top King.
A shoutout must also be given to the ensemble of dancers (Tristan Boylan, Harry Reynolds, Sadie Wagstaff and Megan Jay) as well as the young talented junior ensemble who exude high-energy performances during the moments of group choreography (Eddie Slattery) and look like they are having the best time on the stage.
Musical Supervision by Shaun Critten and Musical Arrangement (Steve Clark) ensures that this panto soundtrack gets the audience toe-tapping. A mixture of golden oldies, musical theatre numbers, and modern songs to even get the moody teenagers dragged along in the festive spirit are used, and are performed well. A shoutout must be given to the nod to Chicago's Cell Block Tango, which has panto villain Ellison singing about characters from traditional tales who dared to cross Poison Ivy.
Imagine Theatre's set design is visually stunning, with backdrops that look like they've transferred from the traditional tale's storybook straight onto the stage. No expense has been spared with set or costume design, with all the glitz and glamour that visually stuns with the helpful aid of lighting design from Ben Payne.
A few issues with microphones turning on too late meant that lines were totally missed - however, this can be forgiven with it being the opening night (well, afternoon) and with a few more performances to iron out the small creases, this pantomime is sure to be a GIANT success.
Overall, Venue Cymru's Jack and the Beanstalk is bound to leave audiences feeling full of beans on the lead up to Christmas!
Jack and the Beanstalk runs at Venue Cymru until 29th December.
★★★★☆ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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