Pantomime 10-17 January 2009 All Saints Church Hall
Jack and the Beanstalk
Written and directed by John Desbottes
Our eponymous hero and his Mother, Dame Trott, run the village dairy, aided but mostly hindered by Simon. Business is bad and they are very poor and this is compounded by the King requiring everyone to pay their taxes again as all the money has been stolen by the Giant Blunderbore.
To add to their troubles, the Giant’s henchman, Gruesome, is sent to obtain a human as a snack and he lights upon the princess who is in disguise and is rescued by Jack who falls in love with her not realising she is the Princess.
Not having the cash to pay for the taxes, Dame Trott has no option but to sell their beloved Daisy and Jack is of course tricked into taking a bag of beans in payment for Daisy. However, Flora, a somewhat bucolic fairy, comes to the rescue and turns them into magic beans and so the famous beanstalk grows.
Meanwhile, the Princess is captured and taken to the Giant’s castle and so Jack leads the way up the beanstalk to rescue her from the Giant’s castle.
Having successfully effected the rescue and come away with the villagers’ money and a hen that lays golden eggs, they hurry back down the beanstalk and chop it down killing the Giant in the process and Jack and the Princess are married.
Cast & crew
Cast
- Gruesome
- Ian Watson
- Fairy Flora
- Jill Fortune
- Trudy Trott
- John Shepherd
- Simon
- David Apps
- Daisy
- Catherine Reid, Sarah Smith
- Jack
- Jo Emery
- Corporal Lance
- Catherine Roberts
- Private Pike
- Jane Manns
- Princess Olivia
- Hazel Istead
- Sally
- Dot Reid
Chorus: Miss Penny’s Princesses
Laura Pomery, Zoe Hanson, Carolyne Favre, Grace Shelton-Wills, Sarah Rogers, Hannah Harding, Emily Bray, Olivia Byrne
Children's Chorus: Miss Penny’s Poppets
Grace Lily Ellis, Connie Blackman, Imogen Ramsden, Jessica Sampson, Francesca Brown, Emily Buchanan, Elisa Greenelabonte, Sophie Rogers
Children's Chorus: Miss Penny’s Peaches
Jessica Pomroy, Sophie Doddiemeade, Taer Lok, Fiona McNevin, Keya Patel, Isabella Giles, Emilia Phouli, Neeve Truelove
Crew
- Director
- John Desbottes
- Production Assistant
- Tim Crump
- Writer
- John Desbottes
- Choreographer
- Penny Parks
- Musical Director
- Chris Greenhalgh
- Musician (Drums)
- Ross Clark
- Musician (Keyboard)
- Sarah Hume
- Stage Manager
- David Thomas
- Set Design & Painting
- Di Ralston, Nicola Emery, with scenery painters Don Ralston, Angela Caygill, Don Newman, Graham Webb
- Set Construction
- Andrew Nicholson
- Lighting Design
- Ian Barlow
- Lighting
- Simon Barlow, Daniel Barlow, Paul Barlow
- Sound
- Tim Crump
- Costumes & Wardrobe
- Catherine Roberts
- Props
- Helen Johnson
- Front of House Manager
- Alan Yardley
The Programme
The original programme from the show. Flick through it here, or download a copy to keep.
pages · Souvenir programme
Photos
Jack and the Beanstalk 2009 Photos
Review
“The title may change each year but the quality and good old-fashioned values remain constant.”
NOW that many professionals have dispensed with girls playing principal boys it is down to companies such as Sanderstead Dramatic Club to keep up the old panto tradition.
This group always puts on a good family show. The title may change each year but the quality and good old-fashioned values remain constant.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen John Shepherd as dame - most of his 17 times I suspect!
He’s so dependable and funny, anything could go wrong (and sometimes did at the busy Saturday matinee I saw) and he’d keep right on producing the laughs. And was it my eyesight, or does Dame Trudy Trott look just a little more glam than her predecessors?
As last year, excellent Jo Emery is the principal boy, the heroic Jack who gets to climb the well-designed beanstalk, which is part of a colourful picture book set.
Shame, though, that we never get to see the giant, magic harp or golden egg-laying goose we hear about. Jack and the Beanstalk is my favourite panto as I love all the huge props you can have for the giant’s castle scenes and John Desbottes’ production didn’t include any. Boo!
Ian Watson usually finds himself cast as an ineffectual goodie but this year he’s promoted to baddie, the giant’s henchman Gruesome. And he’s found his niche. It’s a great performance, all crouchy, growly and just scary enough for the little ones in the audience.
His adversary is Jill Fortune’s Fairy Flora, with gardening fork for a wand. They make fine sparring partners with their well-written rhyming couplets.
Hazel Istead is once again the feisty princess and David Apps is the comical dairyman Simon. It’s a confusing take on this panto’s customary Simple Simon: instead of being all silly and slapstick he’s slow and deadpan in a Harpo Marx bubble wig. More smiles and giggles would have helped the character.
The audience loved naughty Daisy the Cow (Catherine Reid and Sarah Smith) and there was some pretty dancing from the girls from the Penny Parks Musical Workshops.
Jack and the Beanstalk 2009 Review,