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Clevedon's Jack and the Beanstalk displays the very best panto tradition

samuelmallen
By Sam Allen

If you want to see community theatre in all its glory, you could do a lot worse than take a trip to the Princes Theatre where Clevedon Comedy Theatre Club this year staged their version of pantomime favourite Jack and the Beanstalk. The club has been going for 54 years and their programme lists a whole panoply of local people who were involved in bringing together this year’s offering, a traditional panto for all the family. And the packed hall was a tribute to the success of this long-running society.

As ever the force of good battled the force of evil; the appearances of Fairy Beansprout and Poison Ivy enhanced by very effective geyser smoke effects and spotlighting, were cheered and booed by the many youngsters at the matinee performance I was at. All the very best pantomime traditions were in play: we had a dame who sported the most outrageous frocks (twelve in total), an energetic linkman telling the corniest of gags, a King, a Queen, a little bit of slapstick, a scary spider creeping up behind and a wonderful climbing beanstalk.

Of course we had the usual pantomime romance leading to a wedding finale. And, in a storyline reminiscent of Peppa Pig’s Mrs Rabbit, we had a Prime Minister who did every job in the Kingdom complete with appropriate voices!

Amateur drama is remarkable in that the same family names pop up many times in the programme as daughter follows in mum’s footsteps, son helps dad, grandchildren sing alongside their grandparents and everyone mucks in to help with every aspect of the production. And in the best societies those long standing family members open their arms to welcome newcomers, some of whom were on the stage for this year’s tale. All that is the very essence of community theatre and it is all on display at Clevedon. A show with a lot of laughs, a lot of songs and, most importantly of all, a lot of heart.

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Kate
Feb 01

Ha ha it was such a great show. The prime minister (my daughter) has said that is one of the greatest reviews being compared to Mrs Rabbit! Thanks so much 😂

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