JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
(By John Morley)
DIRECTED BY SHULA FITZGERALD
MUSICAL DIRECTOR – IAN SLIPPER
IN PERFORMANCE: 16, 17, 23, 24, 25, 30 and 31 January 2009
To book tickets please visit our Box Office page.
From the Director
Dear All
Well the Panto is finally up and running “oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is!” Sorry I just couldn’t help myself there.
We are now in the rehearsal stage and the giggles and mayhem have started in earnest!
I’m delighted to report that we have a small but perfectly formed cast:
Princess: Stephanie Coston-Holland
Jack: Kelly White
Billy: Giles Wolfe
Dame Trott: Cathie Parker
King: Graham Steel
Spick & Span: Sharron Burley & Larry Watling
Clarence Clanger: Terry Oakes
Fairy: Brenda Joyce
Fleshcreep: Gavin Davy
Mrs Blunderbore: Julie Lovelock
The Giant: David Pritchard
The Cow: Jan Stanyon & Phil Ward
The Villagers: Villagers: Ferne Haxby, Janice George, Claire & Carol Marsh, Sally-Ann O’Callaghan
The Dancers: Catherine Baritte, Rory Gordon, Maddy Smedley, Gemma Turner,
The Backing Singers: Vanessa Elliot, Sam Griggs, Karen Friett, Lorraine Slipper
The Children: Katie Aitchison, Kelsey Hummersone, Maisie White
This year’s show is going to be an explosion of colour, special effects, lights, dance, song, loads of laughs and lots of good old slapping of the thigh.
If you are looking for an evening out to cheer yourself on a cold winter's evening , visit our Box Office to book your tickets.
Looking forward to seeing you all at Eynsford Village Hall from the 16th Jan onwards.
Warmest wishes and good cheer. Shula Director
Description of Characters
Jack is a romantic dreamer, warm hearted so that he becomes emotional when having to sell Daisy the Cow, but also a brave hero.
The Princess must really struggle and fight and kick Fleshcreep, the Giant’s Henchman so that the audience will cheer her on when she is defiant.
Dame Trot is the comedy Dame but is seriously emotional about selling the Cow and her famous scene of tragic dismay at finding the beans not gold after all, should be played with great sincerity and she is enraged with her son Jack at this moment.
The King is daft, is comically scared of the Giant and he fancies Dame Trot.
The Giant needs an offstage voice that can boom loudly and deeply into an offstage microphone. His is not a long part because he can outstay his welcome. The Giant is the character that the audience is waiting for so he needs to be taken just that extra bit more seriously.
Fleshcreep is an immortal so he/she will be green faced! A highly sinister make-up and acting performance are needed as the entire cast is terrified of him and this fact must ring true. His or her villainy not only helps the story but also works as a butt for the comics. He/she is devious and horrible, yet the part should be played with relish.
Daisy the Cow The audience will fall in love with Daisy and this makes the part very well worth playing for the (usually female) occupants of the cow costume.
The Vegetable Fairy The actress playing this rewarding part should not rely on the comedy rhyming couplets too much, as Pantomime is a visual art so her props and comedy business are important. A mild rustic accent works well and it is best to play her with wild optimism and fun and never be “downbeat”.
Silly Billy is a personality part with emphasis on comedy. Perhaps he looks a bit “country yokel” with battered hat and smock – if so his style must not clash with the Vegetable Fairy and must remain a personality part.
Clarence Clanger the Town Crier can be a fat red cheeked bluff man or women like the Beadle in Oliver Twist or he/she is an ex-sergeant major with a bristling moustache (Man only). If played young, or by an actress, let the ringing of the bell drive the cast crazy when they hear it and let him or her have a cheeky almost cocky personality.
Spick and Span Sergeant Spick and Corporal Span are a sort of military version of the traditional panto broker’s men/double act/funny parts. It is traditional that they continually hit each other and fall down with lots of slapstick and the audience does like them played that way.
Mrs Blodwyn Blunderbore Her make-up, voice and acting are menacing and splendid melodramatic so that – like Fleshcreep – the cast are terrified of her and thus she works the comedy. She may wish to acquire a Welsh accent, in which case a bit of simple re-phrasing with a few “boyos” and “indeed-to-goodnesses” will help. The more horrible she is the better the comedy scenes work in Act II. She is not a panto witch, but she is played in the French Revolution Tricoteuse style.
Further information is available from the Production Secretary, Elaine Deacon via email – ermintrude_155@hotmail.co.uk or telephone – 01689 851250 or mobile no. 07791 668948