It’s Panto Time! Oh No It Isn’t! Jack and the Beanstalk comes to the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

By Ruth Kettle-Frisby – Guest Writer and Community Activist

Ruth is passionate about fostering positive change within the local community and regularly contributes insights and stories to The Havering Daily.

For the love of an irrepressibly naive techno-loving cow called Pat, horticulture meets haute cuisine to cultivate the magic of friendship. 

Infused with raucous innuendos, rollicking word-play, and fertilised with co-writer and director Kate Lovell’s signature care, Jack and the Beanstalk at Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch has been situated in local community life.

Set in the cobbled street of Romford Market amidst loved historic landmarks, including The Golden Lion and Robin’s Pie and Mash, local residents will revel in the proportions of the giant: his rotundness and height couched in relation to the Drill roundabout and Liberty shopping centre respectively. Even references to being ‘broker than Havering Council’ – and the even stickier subject of Gallows Corner (currently closed) – elicit audible chortles of merriment!

It’s rootedness in Havering runs deeper still. In an exciting panto competition rolled out throughout the borough, Little Zack Gillard, age just 4, grew the tallest beanstalk. Dame Trott, who is exuberantly played by Fred Broom, showcases the stand-out market-place costume that is the fruit of the parallel ‘Design A Dame’ competition. What a picture Trotty – the self-confessed ‘grower’ – is! She dazzles on stage in fourteen-year-old Farzin Shahid’s impressive winning entry, suitably offset by her courgette-coloured eye shadow.

As immersed in Havering life as the story is, a gingham-clad Jill and her brother Jack – our whimsical protagonist – situate the story in gently pastoral scenes. Visually, it’s a spectacular production with a vibrant set design, complete with unfurlinginflatable beanstalk tendrils and an impressive mechanical giant. 

What really sets this production apart is the integrated musicianship with almost every cast member multitasking in a varied musical performance. Music is consistently centred rather than receding into the background; a golden guitar replacing the fabled gilded harp to join an array of flower-embedded instruments. A real highlight is a superbly entertaining rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, featuring retro novelty items and varying abilities to cause social offence, from whoopie cushions to no less than ten Keir Starmers.

With ‘trouble germinating up in Cloud Land’, the element of conflict is provided by the belching giant’s cunningly culinary tax-collecting little brother, Fleshcreep, who is compellingly captured by Roddy Lynch. Lauren Chinery’s performance as Pat the Cow triumphs to uniquely bizarre and hilarious effect; and Beth Hinton-Lever – who plays Green fingered George – is perhaps the heart and soul of the show. Even when trapped in a giant cheese grater, her charm, infectious energy and effortless physicality made her as perfectly suited to this role as she would be to the CBeebies House. 

Jack and the Beanstalk is a Christmas treat for all ages, and you can book now to secure your seats from the Queen’s Theatre website.

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