What could be more funny than a fat man in a dress, a disobedient dog and an assault course? After our visit to the Lichfield Garrick Christmas pantomime of Jack and the Bean Stalk, I have to say that the answer is … not much! We ’ ve been going to the Lichfield Garrick pantomime for a number of years now and my daughter and I were in agreement that this year ’ s offering was maybe the best yet. There were some familiar faces, Sam Rabone ’ s Dame of course being one of them and Ben Thornton as Billy. There were some new faces too, including a guest appearance of the canine variety, which managed to make us coo and cry simultaneously. We were never entirely sure whether the ‘ mishaps ’ were in fact scripted or whether the actors ’ ad libbing abilities were top drawer. Either way, the audience interaction in those moments really made the show come alive and created the best memories. The audience, follow Jack as she fights her way into the clouds to save the villag...
Floella Benjamin describes Coming to England as a story of hope and resilience. That's exactly the inspiring message that we took away from this show. Both of my girls have enjoyed Floella's book 'Coming to England' so we went into the show knowing the story well. The show was true to the book and enhanced every detail with a mixture of song, dancing and acting. The bright, beautiful Trinidadian culture was celebrated but the play also sensitively tackled the reasons why the Windrush generation took the long journey to move to the UK. The show demonstrated the reality of the sacrifices made. We found it particularly sad and hard-hitting when the oldest children remained in Trinidad and were treated badly by 'auntie' and 'uncle'. We were as delighted as the characters when the letter arrived calling the children to England. England wasn't the utopia that the children or parents imagined and on arrival the weather and houses were a shock. 'Coming...