Review: Jack and the Beanstalk at Alive King’s Lynn Corn Exchange

It’s not just children who love pantos. What struck me on Sunday evening at the Jordan Productions version of Jack and the Beanstalk was the number of adults rolling back the years.

This is the 13th year that Chris Jordan has put on a pantomime here and, with record sales already achieved, it’s clear that Christmas starts for all ages at the Alive Corn Exchange.

Even though the older members of the audience know, expect and are delivered the staples of a traditional panto, it’s the sound of excited children that always delights.

It’s so lovely seeing the ‘It’s Behind You’, ‘Oh No It Isn’t’ and ‘We’ll Have To Do It Again Then’ sketches through a child’s eye. For the first time.

And, with increasing worries over exposure to social media and all the perils it can bring, how wonderful to see a whole audience so engaged, phones in pockets and smiles on faces.

Mr Jordan really knows how to write a panto script. Songs old and new that we all know and love, topical jokes both national and local, and, of course, the risqué ones to make those of a certain age chuckle. Wisbech, the A47 and the former Prince Andrew all had their own punchlines.

The plot hardly matters as all these wonderful components come together, but for me, when I’ve seen a dame leering after a bald man in the front rows, a village idiot getting the kids on his side and a pretty woman pretending to be a handsome man, I know Christmas is on its way.

Although there’s a certain formula to these productions, what no one can vouch for is the reaction of the children.

Such as the one who went loudly against the consensus of everyone else in the audience by suggesting Jack should sell the cow to the old hag… or the delightful little girl called to the stage who was urged by Silly Billy to say he was the best actor in order to claim her goody bag, but said it was Dame Trott anyway!

Talking of Billy, actor Scott Cripps has become a familiar face at the Lynn panto, and it feels like it would not be the same without him. The same goes for the dame, Harry Hart, also now a fixture at Lynn.

But I shouldn’t single out anyone. The seven main actors are superb, seemingly effortlessly so. The supporting Young Company and the ensemble are wonderful too, and Your Local Paper is so proud to once again be media partner.

You only have to read national news to know England is not the happiest of places at the moment, but pantos show our culture at its very best. They’ve been a Christmas tradition since Victorian times, and I expect them to stay with us for many years to come.

The panto is running until January 4, with prices from £20 to £26. For more information and to book, click here