Review: JOCK AND THE BEANSTALK, Pavilion Theatre

Jock (Scott Fletcher) and his mother (Craig Glover) and brother Jimmy (Liam Dolan) are poor. Their village is overlooked by Giant Glaikitguts, and he sends his henchman Fleeshcreep (Jack Jester) to demand more money from them which they just don’t have. 

Forced to sell Buttercup, the family cow, Jock gets tricked into swapping his beloved friend for a bag of magic beans and the gang have to rescue her from the giant’s castle.

Jock’s love interest is Princess Jill (Jennifer Neil). We’re seeing a really positive change these days where the princesses don’t blend into the background and Neil’s Jill is a headstrong, funny  and kind woman who is never treated like the damsel in distress. 

There’s a brilliant dynamic between the cast which can only come from working together a long time. While Grado and Stephen Purdon are better known as the panto duo with the catchphrase, the full company are all really popular with the audience.

“Golden” is definitely the song for panto season 2025 but typically, it has been a full company number in other productions on account of it being a really difficult one to sing. It appears to be a breeze for Jennifer Neil, though, as Jill appears effortless as she belts it out in Act 2. Seriously impressive. 

Jock and the Beanstalk ticks all of the boxes for panto. There are the traditional elements for shouting out but the song and dance numbers are top quality as well. The Christmas cracker jokes go down a storm with the wee ones and there’s quite a bit of content in there for the grown-ups. A real highlight of the show was a rogue sausage that you can’t quite believe they got away with...

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