Jack and the Beanstalk

Victoria Hall ADS, Victoria Hall, Knowsley Street

Friday, Saturday, Monday and January 23 and 24

JACK and the Beanstalk is one of the better known pantomime titles and this version, written by Barry Massey, whilst having some slight changes to the normal cast of characters did not disappoint.

In the title role of Jack, Matthew Wilkinson gave a measured performance.

He finally gets the girl of his dreams, Alice, played with subtle innocence by Natalie Quinn, by climbing the beanstalk and proving he has no fear.

Barry Massey, as the Dame, gave us one liners aplenty, some old, some new and the audience were with him all the way.

The appearance of the obligatory panto Cow Lollypop brought great reactions from the children.

Katie Barnes and Eleanor Smart kept Lollypop on four legs which is no mean feat!

In a bid to get his rent paid, Robin Sharpe, as Baron Rubbert Band, was suitably unpleasant until he got his hands on the bag of gold. Panto has to be comedic and we had this with Ann Dixon as Peter Piper — Ann knows how to deliver comedy and is always a pleasure to watch.

Ably supported by Courtney Hargreaves, as Flora Plum, this comedy couple worked well together.

As the Baron’s henchmen, both were on form in terms of messing things up with madcap goings on which detracted from the main aim of getting the cash.

In panto we look forward to good triumphing over evil. This version gave us Wizard Dave, played by Russell Hedley, and Witch Way, played by Robert Goodier.

Both held their characters and had the audience, suitably cheering and booing respectively.

Hugh Mongous, Giant was impressive, standing at least 7 foot tall. Chris Hilton managed to stay upright (only just) with Nick Pope as Archy, his go-fer standing by his side.

The children’s chorus gave us some nice dance routines and were vocally strong.

The scenery and costumes and lighting contributed to the success of this family favourite which still has five performances to play.

Paul Cohen