Jack & the Beanstalk Pantomime in time for Christmas

Colin Hedivan of Performing Arts at Whanganui High Schools in front of a Year 9 dance class.

Christmas time means pantomime time. Last year Colin Hedivan directed Little Red Riding Hood and is following it up this year with ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’ at the Repertory Theatre, starting December 15 and going through to December 23.

While it is based on the traditional story of Jack, his mother, a cow and a bean plant, this version writtenby New Zealand playwright Roger Hall, adds considerable local flavour. Colin contacted Roger and was given permission to include jokes which will resonate with Whanganui audiences. Start guessing to see who and what you will be laughing at or with, when you go to see the production.

He says “we came up with the jokes as a cast and over rehearsals tried different jokes until we got the right ones.” He adds “the show is a physical comedy – a bit of slapstick, complete with quirky songs and over the top characters.”

Not all actors can adjust to this type of acting and so Colin held a workshop style audition, where over two hours he did improvisation and games. He said the cast selected “were the ones who could bounce off each other and made me laugh.” Out of the seven actors, there are two relatively new actors, one who has been on stage only once in Whanganui and one who has done only one previous show.

Chris McKenzie, surely one of the best actors in Whanganui, plays the role of the mother – part of pantomime tradition has a man playing the role of a female. Ben Clow plays Jack and Colin says “the two of them have great comedic moments. I never stopped laughing in rehearsals.” The actors are backed by a small group of musicians playing music written for the play and the sets and costumes are all very colourful, says Colin.

The pantomime has to combine humour suitable for children but also humour likely to be picked up only by the adults. Colin says “it will be quirky and fun. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and neither will the audience.”

River City Press 23/11/17