Jack and the Beanstalk, New Wimbledon Theatre Review

Reviews

11 Dec

Written by Cathie for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review

Fe Fi Fo Fum, I can smell a brilliant pantomime just begun! In Wimbledon this year the festivities are in full swing for the annual pantomime. Our star-strewn pantomime is Jack and the Beanstalk and our main villain is Alexandra Burke who still can’t resist a bad boy as she is married to the biggest and hardest giant of the city of clouds and stars and wants to destroy Wimbledon town. This pantomime has definitely stepped up its game even more than last year and is a heavyweight contender for the best pantomime in London. The sets are bigger, the special effects brighter and the festivities are dialled up to 11.

The cast of this pantomime and their chemistry is truly what elevates this to a five star experience. Benjamin Yates as Jack and Natalie Chua as Jill positively sparkled with joy and dancing pizazz and had all the audience rooting for them. The true magnetic performances however are the Dame Trot Ceri Dupree and Silly Simon Joe Pasquale. With pure joyful pantomime spirit and rapier wit, this duo could oust Julian Clary for the title of King of Pantomime. Their chemistry together and power to motivate the audience was phenomenal and I was in near tears of laughter at their antics. No cast member was safe from their sly wit and they often had all of them laughing loudly, including Yates laughing so hard he fell off the bed on stage. The most popular of the cast amongst parents and children alike and with the most running time, the ticket is worth the price of their onstage bickering alone. Ria Jones is an elegant Spirit of the Beans who more than holds her own against the comedic chaos of Dupree and Pasquale and watching their cheeky ad-libbing on stage had me in stitches of laughter. The ensemble cast are terrific dancers and their grooving chickens will have you in tears of laughter. Alexandra Burke is a fantastic villain, with plenty of dancing and singing spotlight moments and is a brilliant foil for the rest of the cast.

There isn’t much plot but there are lots of silly jokes, dancing and plenty of hilarious variety moments, including terrific tongue twisters about poisonous pythons hissing in pits, a shenanigans filled 12 days of Christmas and plenty of practical jokes and ad-libbed moments too. There are plenty of song and dance moments your children will love and will bring a smile to the most hardened Scrooge. The sets were larger than life, riotously colourful and completely beautiful. It really enhanced the fantastical elements of the story and generally just made all of the onstage joyful chaos even more fun. My highlights include seeing the scary giant Blunderbore come roaring out at the audience, to thunderous booing from children and adults alike.

This is an especially brilliant pantomime for young families as there are plenty of opportunities for audience engagement, he’s behind you moment and the chance for your child to on stage to win prizes at the end. It’s a very family friendly affair but plenty of cheeky jokes to keep parents laughing just as much. Pascale especially will keep your children laughing and giggling the whole way through.

At a running time of 2 hours, this pantomime is the perfect family night out to celebrate your Christmas holiday. You will leave filled with joy and plenty of renewed Christmas spirit. If you like silly jokes, tongue twisters beautiful sets, good triumphing over evil and a cheeky song or two then this is the show for you.