"A great pantomime and probably the best so far"

Our brother and sister team of Junior Reviewers, Riley and Freya Barn, attended the opening night of Jack and the Beanstalk. Read on for their thoughts on the family panto...

Riley's Review

The magic Vegetable fairy falls from cloudland, causing the crops of Milford Haven to cease their growth. This causes Jack and his widowed mother to stop selling anything but Dairy products! But their cow… Pat can no longer make the milk to sell. Jack and his mother are then forced to depart with their beloved Cow after she is sold for some “Magic” Beans. One thing leads to another and now Jack is on a magical journey to find and retake Cow Pat! Wait…

Once again I find myself revisiting the Torch to remark on their once again amazing show! As usual I always leave the Theatre in joy after watching their classically comedic performance, full of story and a great underline message. A story of how regardless of impossible odds, a hero with kindness, bravery and generosity can overcome anything. With a phenomenal cast with new and old faces, who all bring something new to the table. I was originally intrigued by a new cast member I had yet to see as the lead, but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard and saw how Jack was portrayed. It was a perfect acting performance that showed well his courage and bravery, but also his mercy and the way he would interact with the other characters. Speaking of interactions the audience plays quite a role in the evolution of jokes. The front 1-5 rows are what I would call “The Splash Zone” so do what you wish with that, along with the real life call outs that place the scenes right here in Pembrokeshire. Through their story the group meets some weird and wonderful personalities who are really fun to watch, like- HONK… Sorry, characters like- HONK… Alright… the Honk hates spoilers…

A fun tale of bravery and overcoming odds and finding friends along the way. I would recommend this Panto to anyone who loves these classic tales. 

Freya's Review

Here we follow Jacks story as we help him stop the giant from stealing all the food and get the vegetable fairy back into cloud land. We are introduced in the first scenes to the vegetable fairy who helps grow our “tasty” vegetables. Although, her powers don't work on the main earth and she has to be up in cloud land for them to work.  She was kicked out by the giants two nasty guards, Agatha Fleshcreep and Terrance Fleshcreep or laugh and make fun of our fairy. After casting them away, she has to find out how to get back up to cloud land and stop the giant and Fleshcreeps. We pass over to Jack, who is playing hide and seek with his friend, who happens to be a cow called Pat. Although, Jack runs away quickly because his mother calls his name. Jacks Mother is quite the peculiar one, although, there is no doubt her beauty blows away all the men, am I right? Jacks mother is quite the zesty one and will go after any man who takes her beauty standards. After Jack is called upon by his mother, he gets told that he has to sell Pat the cow, due to them being short on money. Jack pleads for them to keep her, but is told to go to the market in the morning. Agatha and Terrance, have a plan. They want to get food for the giants and overheard them talking about selling the cow. They dressed up and stopped jack along the way and bought the cow for 5 magic beans. Although his mother isn't happy and throws them out of the window. Through the night, we help Vegetable fairy grow the seeds and, in the morning, they climb up the bean stalk...

This is an amazing portrayal of Jack and The Bean Stalk and throughout the entire thing I was hooked into the story. Jacks mother was most positively my favorite. If you were to watch it, make sure your children don’t hear his mother's nasty humor and only the parents laugh! The crowd interaction was amazing and I loved the role of the Vegetable Fairy as well as all of the songs. They sung them with great passion and I really enjoyed every second of them. Normally I’m not one for a musical and singing but this made me like them better than before! Pat the cow was very funny as well! I feel that the Dame really brought the show together. I enjoyed everyone else’s part, but without the Dame, the show wouldn't be as good as it. 

There are also small life lessons hidden in this show. Some such as don't judge a book by a cover. We all thought the giant was mean and bad but I'll let you watch it to find out the ending. I really enjoyed how they incorporated the Welsh culture and local hotspots, even if in their opinion they aren't the best – In their opinion! - This was a great pantomime and probably the best so far, although they always get better and better every year. I would say the jokes in this are good for all ages and everybody will find it funny.  Especially some of the parents who laughed at jokes I did not get.

To book your tickets for Jack and the Beanstalk, phone the Box Office on 01646 695267 or click here.