JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Lyric Hammersmith

★★★★★

“this raucously joyful romp will put a bit of much needed magic into everyone’s lives”

If you are looking for a pantomime to see this Christmas look no further than this absolute treat of a show at the Lyric Hammersmith. With a stellar cast and a strong creative pedigree in writer Sonia Jalaly and director Nicholai La Barrie, it more than meets expectations on every level.

From the outset the Fairy Godfather in a shimmering gold dressing gown and big blue fluffy slippers, makes us aware of how Hammersmith is losing its imagination. It soon becomes all too clear why, when we are introduced to Fleshcreep Academy, the local Hammersmith school, complete with copious security cameras and a sadistic headmaster, (a brilliant bully of a baddy played by John Partridge). Meanwhile our hero Jack (Joey James), who is so lacking in confidence that he communicates through a sock puppet and his sister Jill (Sienna Widd), who has enough sass for the entire school have just started their first day, joined by their mother Momma Trott (a highly entertaining Sam Harrison) who has been hired as the new dinner lady. His first appearance with three stripey pink and white mugs strapped at jaunty angles to his pink wig, wearing a satin pink ‘diamonds are a girls best friend’ outfit, looks like a cross between a RuPaul Drag Race contestant and Rylan. All credit to the costume dept (Georgia Lowe) for an incredible job and particularly for Momma Trott’s imaginative and hilarious wardrobe.

In order to defeat The Giant, Jade Hackett’s ‘Looney Tunes’ Fairy Godfather valiantly tries to capture everyone’s imagination and her performance is a comedic masterpiece – her hilarious footwork alone is a pure delight. Jack eventually finds his voice and what a voice…. Joey James is excellent, playing the dual characters of himself and his ‘sock’ alter ego. Not only is he an exceptional rapper, but he also delivers a killer melodic line in the song ‘Pure Imagination’.

Corin Buckeridge’s cleverly created songs feel so currently familiar, yet are original compositions. The sound (Nick Manning) hits just the right level which is no mean feat for a pantomime and Kayla Lomas-Kirton’s vibrant and contemporary choreography delights the younger members of the audience. Older generations will recognise and appreciate other witty musical sound bites like ‘Take my Breath Away’ and ‘Hello Darkness my old Friend’ and the cheeky reenactment of the CCTV Coldplay footage and the inclusion of the controversial 6/7 shows just how appealing this production is to all ages.

The Lyric Hammersmith prides itself for bringing their community together and having innovation at its heart. Well they have truly pushed the boundaries in this production, whilst still maintaining all the core values of a truly traditional panto. This is a tumultuously feel-good show about hopes and dreams …. as the Fairy Godfather said ‘There is nothing more magical than a child’s imagination’. From the audience’s reaction, this raucously joyful romp will put a bit of much needed magic into everyone’s lives.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Lyric Hammersmith

Reviewed on 22nd November 2025

by Sarah Milton

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

OUR TIME | ★★★★ | October 2025

GHOSTS | ★★★★★ | April 2025

PLAY ON! | ★★★★★ | January 2025

OTHELLO | ★★★★ | January 2023

JACK AND

★★★

“a well-oiled piece of theatrical machinery, which can be trusted to generate the audience reaction it was created to produce”

Ghost Stories is something of a theatrical phenomenon. Premiering at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2010, it has since toured extensively in the UK and across the globe, and was also, in 2017, turned into a film. Unusually, the play’s publicity campaign does not employ production shots, and critics and audience alike are asked to ‘keep the secrets of Ghost Stories‘, in order to ensure that new audiences are alive to the show’s surprises. As a publicity tactic, this can only be admired, and it has clearly played a big part in this production’s success. The pre-show buzz had a very particular energy in Brighton last night, and it was clear that there were a lot of horror fans in the audience. As the play’s chief protagonist states in the play’s opening: for the most part, people come to this kind of show to play a game with fear. It is a very particular type of sensory titillation. On this front, it seemed the show did not disappoint. There were certainly gasps and screams aplenty throughout, and they pretty much happened on cue, in terms of the theatrical techniques employed to produce them.

Broadly speaking, this is a production that operates on two levels – the naturalistic, and that of heightened horror. If each of these speak to you equally, you are in for a treat; if, like this reviewer, you favour one mode significantly over the other, the likelihood is that you will find the show tonally uneven and ultimately somewhat frustrating. There is some very good acting to be seen here – Joshua Higgott as Professor Goodman and Paul Hawkyard as Tony Matthews give particularly detailed performances, and there is strong work too from Richard Sutton – and writers Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman have come up with a neat narrative structure that works effectively. The design team too – Jon Bausor, James Farncombe (Lighting) and Nick Manning (Sound) – have created a slick and atmospheric series of worlds within a world. Scott Penrose’s special effects are a massive part of the show, but again, are a potentially divisive element. To this reviewer, there were elements that smacked rather too much of a fairground ghost train, and took away from the real fear generated by the power of the acting and the narrative itself, but plenty of audience members seemed to have their experience enhanced by these moments.

In essence, Ghost Stories is a well-oiled piece of theatrical machinery, which can be trusted to generate the audience reaction it was created to produce. There are shocks aplenty, but ultimately it is a formulaic genre piece – albeit quite a clever one – and therefore actually very unsurprising.

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Tag Archives: Nick Manning

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

★★★★★

Lyric Hammersmith

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Lyric Hammersmith

★★★★★

“this raucously joyful romp will put a bit of much needed magic into everyone’s lives”