For their annual Christmas Pantomime, the Connaught Theatre, Worthing are presenting Jack and the Beanstalk starring TV gardener Charlie Dimmock and, without any doubt, the production shows just how well the Connaught pantomime is continually going from strength to strength.
With the emphasis on all the elements that go to make a traditional pantomime, the show is a great reminder of all that makes this peculiarly British form of theatrical entertainment so very popular and so everlasting.
From the opening “puff of smoke” that heralds the entrance of Miss Dimmock as Fairy Organic, with one of her succession of garden-themed wands, through the customary village scene that introduces the other characters and all the way to the, inevitable, wedding, everything is where it should be and that “safety” is what makes the whole thing so enjoyable.
Darren Clewlow, as Fleshcreep, is every inch the pantomime baddie and he “feeds” off the hisses and boos that burst forth with his every appearance. He throws his insults at the audience, and they lap it up and simply increase the volume of their participation in order to drown out his venomous words.
Tony Rudd, on the other hand, is the archetypal Simple Simon. With an almost endless supply of bad jokes and a huge repertoire of impressions, he rides through the show on a wave of laughter. The children shout greetings every time he appears and he repays their shouts with slapstick routines and comic precision.
Of course, no pantomime is complete without a Dame and Ian Mowat, with his extensive wardrobe of outrageous costumes and wigs, his flirty banter with the audience and his near-the-knuckle humour is perfect as Dame Trott. In scene after scene he commands the stage, a testament to his years as a theatrical performer and his more recent past as a pantomime Dame, which he has played for the last five years.
Allan Jay, as Jack, and Janine Pardo, as Princess Amelia, make a sugary sweet couple who, between them, provide most of the musical numbers. The children are carried along with their love story, and they really feel for the Princess when she gets taken to the Giant’s castle and tied up. Eventually they get to cheer wildly as Jack finally vanquishes the evil Giant Blunderbore, played by Henry Regan, and gets the hand of the Princess as his reward.
The two cast members who shine most in this production are Heart’s local Breakfast Show presenters Tom Evans and Jack Hayes who, in their third Worthing pantomime together, are really becoming seasoned professionals. Tom, as King Cockle, delivers numerous “feed lines”, each of which is batted away so squarely by Jack, as the Lord Chamberlain, that he could, probably, teach the current England cricketers a few lessons. Their on-air camaraderie transfers brilliantly to the stage and is rapidly becoming the defining feature of the continued collaboration between Worthing Theatres and pantomime producers, Paul Holman Associates.
There are so many “laugh out loud” moments in this production that it is difficult to highlight just one, but I would say that it is probably the Twelve Days of Christmas scene. Wonderfully slapstick, brilliantly comic and amazingly fast paced it is pantomime at it’s very best – and it’s wettest! If you’re in the front rows, or in any seat numbered 20, or higher, take a brolly!
**** Four Stars