Following a £7 million refurbishment final 12 months (bettering accessibility for disabled performers), the Catford Broadway Theatre in South East London is again in motion this Christmas, with their festive panto Jack and the Beanstalk.
Written by acclaimed Hackney Empire panto author, Susie McKenna (who has been writing their festive exhibits for over twenty 5 years), she is now branching out and headed south of the river to deliver pleasure to individuals of all ages in Catford.
Set in ‘Lewishfarm’, we enter a world the place the bees are dying and local weather change is ruining the world. However that doesn’t matter to the city landlord Boris (the mendacity cockroach) who’s tripling everybody’s hire, forcing them out of city and taking nature out with it. It’s all the way down to Jack, to reside as much as his grandfathers heroic identify and save the city from evil cockroaches.
Caroline and Jack are greatest pals. However when Jacks mum says they must promote Caroline (who’s a cow) as a way to survive, he reluctantly takes her off to market. However when he meets an aged girl who doesn’t have any cash however guarantees to deal with Caroline, Jack appears far too fast to offer his greatest pal away for nothing, after they might have simply as simply remained collectively and been no extra financially higher off. The previous girl does provide up some magic beans in change however it appears like this occurs a second too late within the story and the idea that Jack is shedding his greatest pal turns into questionable.
Placing that apart (it’s panto in any case), regardless of the horrible sound high quality and disappointing ‘slop’ scene that pantos are famed for, that is good household enjoyable and has an actual local people really feel to it.
Siobhan Athwal is pleasant as our storyteller, Queen Bee, however actually is available in to her personal in act two because the evil spouse to Boris the cockroach. Siobhan says the most effective factor about being within the panto is ‘illustration’ because it exhibits there’s a place for everybody on stage, no matter your heritage and she or he couldn’t be extra proper about that. On this present, and sadly totally different to most pantos you will notice this 12 months, white persons are the minority (for as soon as) which is refreshing when in 2023, panto nonetheless appears to be whitewashed each on stage and off.
Derek Elroy does a great job as Dame Dolores Trott, playfully flirting with the viewers however in opposition to different panto dames, feels fairly reserved.
Wayne Rollins deliver vitality and enjoyable to the position of Scarecrooooooooow, Durone Stokes is one to observe as blissful chappy Jack and Evelyn Hoskins beams as SJ. The large in act two is well worth the ticket value alone.
Ben Fox is delightfully terrible as Boris the mendacity Cockroach, and the viewers are more than pleased to boo him in what’s a really political present!
As anticipated, our story ends a contented one. Jack chops down the beanstalk leaving the evil cockroaches stranded with the enormous – leaving the city of Lewishfarm to thrive. Hooray!
