Twelve months ago I reflected in my panto review that the Everyman were swiftly closing in on the target in their quest to find the elusive goose that lays golden pantomime eggs. This year I’m happy to report that they have found her. She was hiding at the top of Jack’s Beanstalk all along!
This year’s outing in the true home of Rock’n’Roll Panto is Jack and the Beanstalk, but as devotees of the Everyman’s legendary Christmas guffaw-fest will well know, you will need to be prepared for a major re-working of the story. In this offering, Chloe Moss has turned her hand to writing a piece of pure fantasy in which most of the elements of the traditional story are to be found and, although there might not be an entirely literal beanstalk, her retelling is packed to the gunnels with flower-power.
Adam Keast is back onstage, this time with lilac locks and hippy garb, as Fairy Facecake, and he is on a mission to convert anyone in Liverpool who doesn’t believe in magic and therefore cannot see fairies. His main target is Jack, who despite working in the Cosmic Crystals shop run by his mother Vera, is a big sceptic, believing the spiritual enlightenment and crystal healing she purveys to be bunkum. Luckily Jill, Fairy Facecake’s daughter is only a fairy in training, so Jack is definitely able to see her, and fortunately for our story he likes what he sees.
All is not well on What-a-Lark Lane however. The evil Alan Sucre, masquerading as a multi-millionaire psychic, sets his sights on falsely wooing Vera so that he can get his hands on the title to her shop, aided and abetted by his sidekick Roginald.
Will Daisy the cow’s plan to sell herself to save the shop work? Will a bag of magic crystals reap a harvest or just a tall story? Will Jack get the magic goose to lay another golden egg, and who, really, is the mysterious giant said to live in the clouds? All will be revealed, but not until we’ve had a lot of fun guessing.
Jack is, of course, the archetypal ‘Everyman’ of folk tale – a foolish hero whose innocence so often inadvertently saves the day while in search of his Jill. Here he is played by Malek Alkoni, who although no stranger to film and television, is making his stage debut in a winsome, wide-eyed performance that would be almost as much at home in children’s TV as it is here. We are cross with him for his lack of faith in magic of course, but who could stay cross for long with this Jack? His Jill is played with matching energy and enthusiasm by Amy Bastani, who is determined to make Jack believe before she gains her fairy wings and becomes invisible to him.
Zoe West (most recently seen on this stage in a stunning performance of Romeo), won the UK Pantomime Award for Best Villain last year in the Everyman’s Rapunzel, and returns this season in an even more villainous guise as the slimy and in no way sweet Alan Sucre, complete with signature Dick Dastardly moustache. This Mancunian monster is the stuff of nightmare, and is guaranteed to have audiences booing through till January. Please can we have more of Zoe’s villains in years to come?
Sucre’s unlikely henchman is the reluctant and not so bright Roginald, brought to life by Theo Diedrick in a surprisingly sympathetic and multi-faceted creation. There is also a great supporting cast including Elaine Hua Jones who provides, among other characters, Daisy the anthropomorphic cow and the delightful gilt-laden goose, in a quirkily quilted costume.
But the unrivalled star of the show has to be one of the best dames to grace the Everyman stage in a long time. Liam Tobin in the part of Dame Vera has to be seen to be believed, and the biggest disappointment of the evening for me is that we only get to see the first few bars of her Cell Block Tango – I’m getting my request in early for the full version in a future panto…
The music in this year’s show is once again expertly put together by musical supervisor and arranger Jamie Noar, and directed by Henry Brennan from his band emplacement perched, perhaps a little too discreetly, atop the set. The mix of songs is broad and eclectic, and ranges from Meatloaf to K-Pop, and it is clear that there genuinely is something to get every age group in the house engaged in the fun. The multi-instrumentalist cast as usual get plenty of opportunity to show off their solo prowess, and even a broken guitar string on Thursday night didn’t dampen Zoe West’s performance.
Katie Scott’s set and costume designs are a riot of colour and peppered with twinkling lights, and she succeeds in finding a suitably on-message way of incorporating the obligatory beanstalk into the Aquarian-age setting for the tale.
Kash Arshad directs with great punch and energy, keeping plenty of movement on the stage at all times, and although one or two scenes (notably an early audience participation segment from Fairy Facecake) have more padding than Dame Vera’s bust and might use a touch of tightening, the evening as a whole races along like a runaway train, and when it ends we still don’t want to get off.
I’m nailing my colours to the mast here and saying that this is the best Everyman panto since the vintage Robin Hood of 2021, and with its arrival, the first family panto to open in Liverpool this year, it really feels as though Christmas is on the way.
Suitable for all ages and a perfect family night out, Jack and the Beanstalk is at the Everyman until 17th January with tickets available here. Audio described, BSL, captioned and relaxed performances are included in the schedule.
Star Rating 4½ stars
Production Photography by Ellie Kurttz:
Elaine Hua Jones, Liam Tobin, Malek Alkoni and Amy Bastani 
Theo Diedrick and Zoe West 
Liam Tobin as Dame Vera
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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