PANTO | Jack and the Beanstalk, Carriageworks Theatre

Rob Greenland takes the family to Jack and the Beanstalk at Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds… oh yes he did!

Most families will have their pantomime tradition. Ours is to go on Christmas Eve. Because in our house Christmas Eve very definitely isn’t the day before the big day. It’s a big day of its own. It’s my birthday.

And yes people do sometimes forget because they’re busy with everything else and yes I do get birthday presents wrapped in Christmas paper and yes I do sometimes get just one present and yes I’d much prefer a birthday in the middle of summer thank you very much.

It’s also fair to say that now this Christmas Eve is my 45th, all that stuff doesn’t matter quite as much as it once did.

But that’s where our tradition comes from. And I suppose that’s the beauty of pantomimes – the tradition, the connection to our past. Good old-fashioned, timeless fun. And there was plenty of that to be had here.

This was our first Carriageworks panto – to be honest we’re pretty loyal to Rock n Roll at City Varieties. In fact it was the first time I’d been to anything at the Carriageworks – other than performances by flashing LED boxes on Light Night. So we went with an open mind.

With a 630pm start, it was immediately clear that this is a panto aimed primarily at younger children – and there were plenty of them there. The Carriageworks clearly work hard on this – there’s a small kids play area next to the bar – and all in all this felt like it would be a great choice for a first panto for a younger child.

The Carriageworks is a small theatre, and that brings an intimacy to the show that kids really like. Who wouldn’t want the chance to high-five Jack as he runs between the seats trying to escape from the baddy?

The younger kids around us loved it. There was enough in there to keep the adults entertained – including the obligatory risqué jokes by the excellent Dame, plenty of local references in the storytelling and lots of uplifting pop songs. But I thought this was a show very much aimed at primary school kids – and all the better for it.

Our favourite bit was a Laurel and Hardy style silent slapstick scene in the second half, which I thought was really well done. All the kids around us thought it was hilarious – and it was lovely to be reminded of how kids like nothing more than adults being daft.

All in all this was a fun couple of hours which did what we wanted it to – it got us in the Christmas mood. My family just need to remember to organise that shout-out for my 46th next time…

Jack and the Beanstalk is playing at The Carriageworks till 6th of January.