Jack and the Beanstalk @ Lichfield Garrick

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 village from the giant’s weather machine destroying the environment! However, all is not as it seems as evil, non-specific European accented, Luke Backinanger and his zombie gang try to capture Jack and her family, so that he can exact his revenge for the village rejecting his dreams of boyband stardom. It’s a crazy plot with crazy characters and even crazier costumes.

I only wish I’d been able to see all the show, but the tears of laughter got in the way! I’d recommend buying your tickets soon because, once word of mouth gets out (beans talk by the way), there aren’t going to be many left!

Special thanks to Lichfield Garrick for inviting us along to review the show.
Jack and the Beanstalk runs between now and 12th January. Tickets start from £15 and some January shows currently have 50% off!

https://www.lichfieldgarrick.com/events/jack-the-beanstalk-2024-pantomime

Photo credits to Steve Gregson

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