Stage Dragon: Jack and the Beanstalk, Guildford Fringe

Published on: 15 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 15 Dec, 2019

Philip Day as Trisha Trott, Daisy the cow, Ruarí Kelsey as Dickie the Daft and Clark James as Jack. Photo Matt Pereira Photography

By Alice Fowler

Take a riotous blend of song, dance and cringe-worthy puns, add a local radio star – and you have, of course, a local pantomime. For generations, this not-so-secret formula has been the Yvonne Arnaud’s winning recipe.

This year, a new kid is on the block – or four miles down the road in Godalming, to be precise. Enter the Guildford Fringe, with its version of Jack and the Beanstalk, starring BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey presenter, Mark Carter.

This is a local panto in its truest sense. There is much play on the town’s unusual name, with a giant named Golmagog, and the inhabitants themselves addressed as ‘God-all-mingers’.

This is Goldalming’s first professional family pantomime, with some fine performances on offer, notably from Philip Day – an actor with many West End and TV credits to his name – as the depressive dame, Trisha Trott. Mark Carter is a boo-able baddie as Fleshcreep, the giant’s sneering assistant. This may be a one-dimensional performance; but who really needs their villain any other way?

Mark Carter as Flesh Creep. Credit Matt Pereira Photography

Clark James plays Jack, our timorous hero, who needs the encouragement of the audience to defeat the wicked Giant, assisted by his friend Dickie the Daft (Ruari Kelsey, with a nice line in bad jokes).

Rachel Warrick-Clarke makes her professional debut as Jill, while Molly Jacks also debuts as Fairy Liquid. Dancers are all currently training at the Guildford School of Acting, while an ensemble of young local performers join the troupe.

Molly Jacks as Fairy Liquid and Rachel Warrick-Clarke as Jill. Credit Matt Pereira Photography

This is traditional, slapstick fare, with much humour from Daisy the dancing cow, off to meet her fate at Guildford market. In an audacious act of panto-grab, producers Nick Wyschna and Charlotte Bateup even borrow the ghost scene (‘He’s behind you…’ ‘We’ll have to do it again then, won’t we?’), mysteriously missing from the Yvonne Arnaud this year.

Having been lucky enough the watch both local pantos this week, I can confirm that the Yvonne Arnaud’s offering is still an outright winner. But with the same Fringe team already gearing up for next year’s show, Beauty and the Beast, the local panto scene looks both shaken and stirred.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs at The Borough Hall, Godalming until December 24 2019. Book at www.Godalmingpanto.com or call 01483 361101.