[Ad- gifted experience] We’ve been to a lot of pantomimes over the last few years! They seem like such a classic, Christmastime activity and here we love seasonal events. Dann and I, however, have never been to an adult’s only panto. Pantomimes are known for their cheeky humor and innuendos, however, this was a few steps beyond that. Instead of cheeky humor, it was full of crude jokes, audience participation, and some of the classic panto moments that you’d expect. Jack and the Beanstalk at the King’s Head Theatre does have a child-friendly version as well, but this was not it!
Now, the King’s Head Theatre is a smaller theatre with a very unique stage. It’s flat with the bottom row of the seats, so you will find yourself literally in the show if you are seated there! It’s not the most complex stage, but there is a big intimate feeling with the show, and the actors really play into that. Our dame at Jack and the Beanstalk (adult’s only) was Victoria Scone, who is known from Drag Race! I was very excited to see her in action. Her son, Jack, was a twink from Islington (where they are located). They also had a non-binary cow who basically was their family, the baddie who worked for the giant, the fairy who had the beans (who had a rather inappropriate name and dance) and Jill, a market stall girl.
The story itself was very much like you’d expect, but at the moments where there might have been some cheeky humor, it leaned on the crude side, which the audience ate up! Towards the second half of the play, there was a lot of slightly-drunk shout outs, which the actors played well into and had fun with. Even silly things like the “we have to sing it again won’t we!” bits were made to have more of an adult humor aspect to it, which was a lot of fun. Each of the different viewings of Jack and the Beanstalk at the King’s Head Theatre had special guests, and ours was Le Fil, also from Drag Race, who did a fantastic show of dancing as the harp. It was all just very well done and full of humor that felt very adult.
Dann and I thought that Jack and the Beanstalk at the King’s Head Theatre was a lot of fun. We particularly liked the moments when we got to throw things onto the stage. The baddies outfit, being specifically tailored for the adult performance, was also a lot of fun. It’s such a neat idea to have a Christmas classic done for an older audience, and we both enjoyed the quality of the performers there as well.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!