A charming and fun student Pantomime: Warwick Pantomime Society present Jack and the Beanstalk

I recently watched a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk by Warwick Pantomime Society, which they staged as part of the Warwick Student Arts Festival. The production made great use of its small cast and short run-time, delivering a fun and cheery rendition of a classic pantomime tale.

Knapp’s confidence and stage presence as Jack ensured that the pantomime never lost itself, and the character’s charming stupidity was undoubtedly endearing.

Whilst the jokes were somewhat hit and miss, the pantomime undoubtedly delivered in providing fun student entertainment, whilst utilising a limited cast and a, presumably, limited budget. At just 25 minutes in length and featuring a cast of eight people, the production was rather small scale, however this only served to add to its charm.

The titular characters of Jack and The Beanstalk were also played with fantastic enthusiasm, by Miles Knapp and Felix da Silva respectively, as they utilised physical comedy and clever self-awareness of the show’s limited production value for some good laughs. Knapp’s confidence and stage presence as Jack ensured that the pantomime never lost itself, and the character’s charming stupidity was undoubtedly endearing.

The highlight of the production was undoubtedly the character Harmony Harp, played by Billy Parkes, whose presence and charisma in the part stood out above the rest.

The pantomime mostly follows the traditional story outline for Jack and the Beanstalk, although it features some key differences. Here, Jack’s mother is presented as less altruistic and more sadistic in her gold-digging hunt for a rich older man.

The highlight of the production was undoubtedly the character Harmony Harp, played by Billy Parkes, whose presence and charisma in the part stood out above the rest. Despite the role being a smaller part, the actor truly made it their own, bringing energy and layers to the character, whilst also constantly reacting and engaging the audience with their performance.

Regarding the musical aspect of the pantomime, the songs were somewhat inconsistent in their quality, and yet they remained constantly charming. Its musical highlights include the songs of Harmony Harp, whose vocal confidence and skill were the most apparent, and possible lowlights include the entire cast standing in a line singing Price Tag by Jessie J, whilst clicking.

The production’s pantomime dame was played by Joshua Womble, who brought great confidence and energy as Jack’s gold-digging mother, a role that took serious confidence, for multiple reasons, and undoubtedly served its function of bringing both fun and pantomime spirit to the performance.

The production also succeeded in hitting the key pantomime beats that the audience eagerly expected

The main villain of the piece, and Jack’s mum’s principal love interest, was the remarkably well-bearded Giant, played by Ellie Stocker, who brought great energy and some good laughs. The most notably humorous moment was the realisation that the Giant was, without assistance from a piggyback, notably shorter than Jack.

Whilst the narrators seemed to lack some confidence with their lines, possibly as a result of the constant rhymes or the hastiness with which this production was likely put together to be ready in time for the Warwick Student Arts Festival. Regardless, both Beck Stewart and Ben Harrison, who played Jake and Will Grimm, and thus our narrators, succeeded in maintaining the audience’s attention and engagement throughout the piece.

The production also succeeded in hitting the key pantomime beats that the audience eagerly expected, including pantomime dames, audience interaction and shouts of ‘he’s behind you’ running throughout the performance.

The cast delivered a fun, energy-filled pantomime with some standout performances that did not overstay its welcome and ensured a good time for the audience.

Although some of the actors appeared to lack complete confidence in their roles, especially in some of the musical segments, there were no obvious issues with remembering lines and the performance appeared to go very smoothly.

Overall, this was a free-to-watch student play, with a small cast and a short run time, which was staged later into Term 3. Therefore, to respond to this fun pantomime with anything other than positivity would be very unreasonable. The cast delivered a fun, energy-filled pantomime with some standout performances that did not overstay its welcome and ensured a good time for the audience. Alongside this, they presented a convincing case for any pantomime lovers in the audience that their society was worth getting involved in.