King's Head Theatre

This is the (new) King’s Head Theatre’s second go at panto after a luke-warm Cinderella in 2024. By all accounts their first one (written and directed, as is the case this year, by Andrew Pollard) was fine, if a little lacking in the ‘fun’ department. I’m glad to say the team working away four floors below Upper Street got the memo, as this year’s Jack and the Beanstalk is absolutely bursting with berserk energy (and fart jokes) from the word go.  Nominally set in Islington, there isn’t anything hugely conceptually different about this retelling of the fairy tale. What it does have is bags of vim. The whole thing is supercharged with anarchic, Saturday-morning telly kineticism. The boy and girl actors (Elliot Baker-Costello and Priscile Grace) emanate the energy of a thousand Labrador puppies. Even the fact the theatre is so damn deep underground helps generate an atmosphere. As you descend into what feels like the bowels of the earth to reach the stage, there’s a tangible sense of mounting excitement. By the time the kids are in their seats, gathered in what feels like a cross between a school gymnasium and the Manhattan Project, it’s all a bit febrile.  The two children I brought along were properly engrossed for 90 percent of the two-hour run time, which is good going. In fact, the intimacy of the venue means that not paying attention is actively difficult. The cast of six hurl themselves around Jake Evans’ brutally colourful (and dynamically lit) stage, gurning at the...