Is there any other art form that is as raucously subversive as it is steadfastly traditional and British than panto? This year, Lyric Hammersmith’s offering of superlative seasonal silliness for all the family gets the balance just right.
It’s Jack and the Beanstalk but oh no, not as we know it. Rather, this is a version for the TikTok generation with the songs (and right-on, liberty-taking spirit) to match.
In the adaptation by writer Sonia Jalaly and director Nicholai La Barrie, we meet anxiety-ridden Jack and his girl-boss sister Jill on their first day at the strictest school in Hammersmith.
Jack, played by Joey James, is so shy he mostly communicates with a “sock face” except when he sings. James’s voice is so sweet it induced spontaneous whoops from the audience of the kind that are usually reserved for boy bands.
Joey James as Jack, centre, in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith – Alastair Muir
Headmaster Fleshcreep (John Partridge) runs a tight ship – break the “no singing, no dancing, no smiling, no joy” rules then off it’s to the mysterious giant with you. Fleshcreep likes nothing more than a meaty snack before meting out punishment, which he does while wearing a salami-print suit and a red ‘MEGA’ baseball hat to give that extra dose of villainy. Thankfully, that pointed visual commentary is the extent of the show’s political salvos.
Adding to her kids’ dismay is Momma Trott (Sam Harrison), Jack and Jill’s mum and the school’s new dinner lady who thinks she’s there to bring the glam. When the new drama teacher, aka Fairy Godfather (cartoonish scene-stealer Jade Hackett), arrives to replace lunchtimes with improv, he and Trott fall instantly in love. Then the anarchic subversion of magic beans, gender roles and audience interaction takes flight.
So what if the giant – tech giants and all the attendant imagination sapping ills of the internet – could have been a tad more threatening to aid suspense? And perhaps Momma Trott was a touch more drag queen than panto dame. None of that mattered because the cast and live band kept the energy frothing, belting out songs by Beyonce and Raye, a rousing rendition of Seven Nation Army and scenes straight out of the film Grease. Yes, the production could have been slicker – but that might have killed the raucous fun of it all. I’ll take fun over slick any day.
Lyric Hammersmith until Jan 4
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
