Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
A whole host of campus celebrities were involved in the making of Jack and the Beanstalk. The show was directed by Nicola Carter and ComedySoc's Sami Michael. Written by old-time pantoers Carter (Grease's Rizzo), Tim Pearson - formerly known as Beetleman - and campus legend William Seaward, this year's panto left my funny bone well and truly tickled.
PantSoc takes you on an extremely modified version of the original Jack and the Beanstalk adventure. Alex Lawless plays the rather unfortunately named Jack Shit. We follow this hero as he embarks on a journey to save his love - forward thinking feminist Virginia (Charlotte MacDonald) - along with the help of his new friend Jill (Catrin Jones) whom he meets along the way.
Seaward is able to make an appearance through the medium of video - something which is used very well in this production to break up the stage action a little. The stage itself is eye-catchingly dressed with versatile and clever parts which help to move the plot along.
Set in Ye Olde Yorke the panto makes use of a wide range of York Uni-specific jokes. From campus media wisecracks down to an Efe's style kebab shop, the panto succeeds in doing what a panto should: engaging with the audience through fantastic comedy! However, a few reoccurring gags might have been lost on panto virgins.
Laughs aplenty came from the audience with the introduction of Jack's mother Crockov, a Russian narcoleptic nymphomaniac. Patrick Fysh (who also co-produced with Marie Thouaille) takes over the stage with his daring costumes and dubious accent, capturing everyone's attention and leaving you in a state of awe and total amusement.
The main characters are supported by a talented chorus who danced and sang the night away to many cleverly edited hits: "Thriller" (don't ask how it fits in, just go and see for yourself!) and "Babooshka" to name but two. Stephanie Joannou and Avisha Patel, in charge of costumes and choreography respectively, both did a great job!
The level of audience participation was just right for me, calls for enthusiastic "He's behind you!"s and "Oh yes he did!"s were frequent enough to remind you that you were enjoying a night in Pantoland, but did not come so often as to cause groaning and sighing. A few surprises along the way, such as the clever use of narrators, helped spice things up a little and keep the audience on their toes.
Although there were a few opening night glitches - lighting and sound issues and the odd forgotten line - the cast covered these problems well. Any other mistakes passed me by - I was too busy having fun to notice!
Jack and the Beanstalk is on this Friday and Saturday in Central Hall at 7.30. Tickets are available from Your:Shop and OTD for £4/£5 (students/non-students).
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