Jack and the Beanstalk Brunton Theatre

Written and directed by Mark Cox, Jack and the Beanstalk is about a young boy from a poor family who sells his cow for apparently magical beans. When his mother finds out she is not happy so she chucks them out the window and that night strange things happen – a beanstalk grows up into the clouds into a land were a giant lives. Various things had been stolen from Musselburgh and the King’s palace where the pantomime is set, so Jack decides to search for the stolen items in the giant’s lair. He hopes to marry the princess when he returns.

This pantomime was a fun, enjoyable family event with lots of funny moments included in it. A lot of the very funny jokes are associated with modern day things and things to do with places and recognised businesses around East Lothian. There are quite a few songs in this performance and most of the tunes are very current, some have even been the tune of a song in the charts but given a twist in the words!

The lighting and the costumes were definitely bright and colourful. Although all the costumes were very nice some of them were slightly worn but it didn’t detract from the performance.

The acting in Jack and the Beanstalk was great and the actors really got you caught up in the story although sometimes you couldn’t catch the words. In my opinion the best actor was Mammy, Jack’s mum who brought you laughs and entertainment all the way through the panto. There was plenty of audience involvement including a lot of singing, a bit of dancing, free sweets and even getting wet. There was also a lot of booing and the usual panto saying “behind you”.

Altogether this was a great pantomime, great family fun and recommended.

James Walter, P7 Law Primary