REVIEW | Jack and the Beanstalk, Lawrence Batley Theatre

Ivor Tymchak took the kids to see Jack and the beanstalk at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.

Can plucky little Huddersfield Town survive in the big league? After all, they don’t have any star names in their team line-up and their budget is limited compared to the more established teams. My guess is that with formidable teamwork coupled with an irresistible exuberance in individual skills they’ll do all right.

If you think I’m commenting on the football team, I’m not. I’m referring to Jack and the Beanstalk as produced by the Lawrence Batley Theatre.

I’d not been to this theatre before and I was surprised how cosy it is. The show makes use of this intimacy and gleefully conspires with the audience to celebrate all that comes from West Yorkshire (apart from Megan Turner who plays Princess Jill and is inexplicably a Liverpudlian).

The show is firmly aimed at young children (with the traditional risqué jokes inserted for the adults) who are encouraged to get involved at every opportunity. The relentless insistence by the cast members to appear disappointed by the first effort of shouting out by the audience and to repeat the exercise does become a little wearing for the adults though.

None of the cast particularly stood out for me (OK, maybe James McLean who plays Nightshade just edged it) but that might be because not one of them disappointed either; each performance was solid and likeable, which I think is a better result than trying to rely on a big name to carry a mediocre show.

The scenery and costumes impressed and my daughter got a huge chuckle from the beanstalk not inflating properly.

Similar to a football match, this show is a play of two halves. The first half is more organised than the second half where things start to fall apart somewhat. Cast members are running into the audience and little goblins are wandering about the stage with little purpose. Presumably, children find this hilarious.

My one criticism of the show would be the giant’s voice. It has been distorted with an effect that makes the words indistinct. To make sure it wasn’t just my aging hearing I asked my adolescent daughter if she could make out all the words and she couldn’t either so perhaps they should ditch the weird distortion and opt for another, more simple effect.

It was a freezing Monday night when I went to see the show and despite the attendance of lots of guides it was still a ‘cold’ audience (it was press night too with many chin-stroking critics taking notes) so the cast had to work hard to warm us up.

However, it was easy to imagine a future show on a more clement evening where all the cast have relaxed into their parts and enjoy themselves performing before an audience full of excited children high on sugar and festive spirit who are having a spiffing time.

Will they survive going up against the likes of the mighty Bradford Alhambra? I reckon, like their newly promoted football team, they’ll be all right and we’ll see another show next year.