Carnival dame Wayne Child in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Trinity Theatre, Cowes. Picture by Jennifer Burton.
STAGE REVIEW
THE cast of Jack and the Beanstalk at Trinity Theatre milked every moment in the spotlight — quite literally.
Cowes Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society’s Christmas pantomime had the audience in stitches, most notably the performance of Wayne Child, as Dame Trott.
Struggling to meet the rent demands for her dairy, Dame Trott and her children, Jack and Simon, were forced to sell their prize cow, Daisy.
But the gold used to buy Daisy turned into beans and a giant beanstalk later appeared, leading to Jack’s heroic attempts to rescue his girlfriend Jill, who was captured by the villain, Fleschcreep, superbly played by Bob French.
Sixteen-year-old Hebe Gregory did a fine job as Jack, giving a particularly impressive vocal performance, complemented perfectly by Marie Hickman, who was excellent as Jill.
Nick Weightman was impressive in his first leading comedy role as Jack’s brother, Simon, and Joan Savill was magic as the fairy.
Special praise must go to Claire Quilter and Tracy Howard, for keeping the audience in a good 'moo-d’ (pun stolen from the script!), as they combined to play Daisy.
Debbie Stewart and Sue Richards added more humour as Push and Shove, and the show included some cute scenes involving young children.
The constant interaction between the cast and audience, plus the endless use of humorous puns, added to the atmosphere inside the cosy theatre.
The cast also demonstrated the ability to think on their feet when things didn’t go entirely to plan, adding to all-round fun factor of the show.
Reporter: mattw@iwcpmail.co.uk