Cheltenham Playhouse Pantomime 2024: Jack and the Beanstalk – Review

AD – tickets gifted for the purpose of a review

As the audience settled into the tiny Playhouse Theatre, a cow called Edelweiss wandered out for a chat. He was joined by a Chilltenham villager, and the two of them set the scene for the performance ahead. With a small stage and cast, every performer worked ten times harder to engage the audience. From the stars of the show to the junior ensemble, each one played their part in making those watching feel that they were in Chilltenham too.

Jack and the Beanstalk at Cheltenham Playhouse: The Story

Ice cream seller Jack dreams of being an olympic skiier. But before he can make those dreams a reality, he has to help his mum Nellie sell enough ice cream to keep the energy giant at bay.

Jack’s heroine Jill turns up to save the day when the power is cut off due to villagers not paying their bills. Her new invention uses snow to create electricity. Unfortunately, the chosen audience member can’t pump the contraption quick enough to make it work. So, Jack and Nellie are forced to make some tough decisions.

After much soul-searching, they decide to sell their beloved cow, Edelweiss. A buyer turns up almost immediately, in the form of evil Herr Kutte. On behalf of the energy giant, Herr Kutte purchases Edelweiss for the price of a few magic beans.

By the second half of the show, it’s time for jack to climb the beanstalk and rescue Edelweiss. Unlike the traditional story, Jack is joined by Jill and Nellie. Jack’s snow angel tags along to look after him too.

Without wishing to give too much away, there is of course a happy ending, a love story and an opportunity for the characters to follow their dreams.

Jack and the Beanstalk at Cheltenham Playhouse: The Cast & Crew

As mentioned above, the cast in this production is quite small for a pantomime, and the show itself doesn’t follow a traditional panto story. The advantage of this is that the audience really feel like they’re a part of the performance, particularly as the cast are so interactive and engaging.

• Jack: Charlie Burt. Charlie is also the choreographer.
• Jill: Annabel Lisk.
• Edelweiss: Kieran Mortell. Kieran is also the director.
• Fraulein Nellie Nein: Marshall Lockwood. Boasts the best beard ever seen on a pantomime dame.
• Herr Kutte: Jimmy Bryant.
• Snow Angel: Rosie Weston. Rosie is also the musical director and plays some lovely piano music on stage.
• Chilltenham Villagers: John Martin-Stevens and Georgia Pegg.
• Ensemble: Students from the Cheltenham Playhouse Theatre Studio.

We thought the whole cast were brilliant and particularly loved Jimmy Bryant’s portrayal of the baddie, Herr Kutte. He seemed to manage a brilliant balance of delightfully camp and still quite scary. Edelweiss the cow was another favourite. By the time Jack sold Edelweiss, the whole theatre were devastated because they felt like he was a personal friend.

The Verdict

This is very much a non-traditional pantomime and it’s all the better for it. We always love the pantos at Malvern Theatres and Worcester Theatres, which follow a traditional format. With a smaller stage and auditorium, Cheltenham Playhouse’s production risked feeling a bit flat if it was performed in the same way as larger productions. Instead, they took the parts of a traditional panto that worked for them and created something magical.

We loved the idea of the energy giant as the baddie at the top of the beanstalk. The nod to local legend Eddie the Eagle was much appreciated too. The background projections, minimal costume changes and static set all worked really well in this setting.

Whilst some of the fun traditions like the ghost-busters song were absent, this was more than made up for by the level of audience interaction. We were encouraged to join in with clapping and making plenty of noise and a “willing” participant was chosen to get involved with the cast too. At one point, all the characters were running around in the audience and there was also an incident involving water pistols in the auditorium.

If you’re looking for a couple of hours of wholesome family entertainment in Cheltenham this festive season, we can highly recommend Jack and the Beanstalk.

Jack and the Beanstalk at Cheltenham Playhouse: FAQs