The Christmas season is starting with a bang at the Lyric Hammersmith with this years production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Written by Jude Christian & Sonia Jalaly and directed by Nicholai La Barrie, it runs at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith until 07 Jan 2023.
‘Fee-fi-fo-fum’, Fleshcreep wants money from Jack and her mum. And if they don’t cough up, he’s going to take everything they’ve got and feed them to the evil giant in the sky. To save them from their fate, Jack swaps their beloved Daisy the cow (who can sing like no udder) for a bag of magic beans. But little do they know; a soaring adventure awaits…
I invited two experts in the genre of children’s entertainment to review Jack and the Beanstalk, my sister in law and her son, my 4 year old nephew, who gave me their feedback.
I had forgotten to tell my sister in law, this was a pantomime, so she told me she was pleasantly surprised. She also told me that there was a great response from the audience who were cheering loudly and enthusiastically.
I asked them who was their favourite characters. My sister in law favoured Jack’s mother, played by Emmanuel Akwafo. For my nephew, it was the character Jack played by Leah St Luce. When I pressed my nephew for what he liked most about the pantomime, he announced, the singing. There was sing-alongs to Beyoncé songs and some hip-hop dancing.
The staging and effects were very impressive particularly when the snow began to fall and fell on the audience as well.
My nephew also told me he was particularly impressed by the “climbing up the beanstalk” and he liked the castle. Asked whether he thought his younger 15 month old brother would enjoy the pantomime, he thought that he might find the giant a bit scary.
Jack and the Beanstalk runs at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith from 19 Nov 2022 – 07 Jan 2023.
Lyric Hammersmith
