Jack and The Beanstalk, The Capitol Horsham, Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Amanda Hayes

It was a miserable and wet night when we arrived at The Capitol, for the performance of this year’s pantomime, Jack & The Beanstalk, but that didn’t seem to have dampened anyone’s enthusiasm as you literally couldn’t move for excited children. Everyone loves a pantomime, and it was fabulous to see so many happy families queuing to get into what looked like an almost full house.

We love a show at The Capitol in Horsham, the seats are soft and comfortable, more like a cinema than a theatre and it’s a fairly small auditorium compared to some others, so it has an intimate feeling with a fabulous view from every seat. We find snacks and drinks to be reasonably priced, especially the half time ice cream, and the bar well-staffed, so the typical interval queues get dealt with very quickly.

Although there isn’t any specific parking for the theatre there are plenty of car parks within a 5 minute walk and one right opposite, which can be used evenings and weekends. Although it is a short walk, we needed our umbrella for the almost tropical rain that met us on arrival!

Act one starts with a welcome to the village where we meet Fairy Fiddlehead (Emma Lindars), Jack (Archie Durrant, star of West End Favourites, Matilda & Charlie & The Chocolate Factory), who lives with his mother Dame Gloria Trott, played by Steven Cleverley, brother Simon and of course, the villain of the panto Fleshcreep. Simon, played by James Camp, soon gets the crowd going with some simple audience participation which follows through the whole performance and as depicts successful pantomime, it’s not long before the stage is full of performers singing and dancing.

The stars of the show are the amazing John Partridge who plays a very convincing villain as Fleshcreep, John also debuts as Director, and as a surprising alternative to the original pantomime cow, Dolly the Texan Cow played by all singing & dancing Genevieve Nicol. Baddy Fleshcreep appears in almost every scene, to the delight of the audience, who boo his every move, from the wicked to the hilarious he covers them all with passion and gusto.

The pantomime follows the traditional story of Jack and the Beanstalk with the added bonus of love & marriage as Jack falls in love with Princess Jill (Taziva-Faye Katsande). Romesh Ranganathan as the voice of Giant Blunderbore, not seen at all, is just a very scary voice, as he booms down from the smoking vents above the stage. When the Trott’s run out of money, Jack & brother Simon, go off to market to sell Dolly, their favourite cow. Jack sneaks off to meet his beloved Princess Jill, leaving brother Simon to bump into Fleshcreep who fools Simon into selling Dolly to him for a bag of gold. On returning home is mother is upset and angry to find that he has been given a bag of beans not gold and throws them out of the window in disgust.

With a little magic from Fairy Fiddlehead, the following morning they are greeted by a fantastic inflatable giant beanstalk and Jack decides to be a hero and climb the beanstalk up to confront Blunderbore and rescue Princess Jill.
Jack is swiftly followed by Simon & his mother bringing hilarious comedy scenes into Act 2, especially the audience participation in the scene involving Simon, Dame Gloria & Fleshcreep, I don’t want to give too much away, but it was so much fun.

The pantomime is seriously upbeat with loads of well-known songs to sing along to, excellent dancing and plenty of jokes which kept you entertained from start to finish. Princess Jill & Jack both had fantastic singing voices, Dame GloriaTrott is brilliant, Dolly the Cow is fabulous, but our favourite had to be the villain Fleshcreep, so why not come along to The Capitol to choose your own favourite. I won’t tell you ending as I don’t want to spoil the fun but it’s definitely a traditional happy ever after.

Rating: A resounding 5 out of 5
Jacks & the Beanstalk is on at The Capitol , Horsham from Wednesday 04/12/2024 – Sunday 05/01/2025
Tickets start at £26.00 and can be purchased from www.thecapitolhorsham.com or call the box office on 01403 750220
The Capitol, North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RG