JACK AND THE BEANSTALK Kicks Off Christmas Season at Southwark Playhouse, Now thru Jan 11

Goat & Monkey, the company behind the acclaimed sell-out Reverence: A Tale of Abelard and Heloise (Southwark Playhouse, 2007), returns to the theatre to present their unique take on the traditional Christmas pantomime, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK by Toby Hulse. Directed by Joel Scott. Designed by Rebecca Brower. Sound Design by Tom Hackley for HAVEsound. The first Christmas production in Southwark Playhouse's new main space, The Large, opens in December for a five-week run. It will play from today, 6 December 2013 to 11 January 2014 with a press evening performance on Tuesday, 10 December (7pm) and a press matinee performance on Thursday, 12 December (1.30pm).

Journey with Jack through a raucous world of magical beans, milk squirting cows, tap dancing mice and, of course, giants! All the classic ingredients of the seasonal panto with more than a few surprises... A show for everyone aged 7 to 107.

Goat & Monkey specialises in creating immersive, site-specific theatre and online stories. They have a strong track record of delivering exciting high quality productions and of delivering inspiring public engagement projects for partners including the Wellcome Trust and the National Trust. Their current focus is on using digital media alongside theatrical performances to create exciting projects that reach a wide audience and push the boundaries of audience immersion. Current projects in development include an immersive theatrical production about morbid anatomy Anatomical Venus, a game and treasure hunt The Miracle Cure, a story telling App and a touring one-man show using binaural sound and wireless headphones. In 2007 they opened the second Southwark Playhouse venue, beneath the arches of London Bridge Station, with Reverence: A Tale of Abelard and Heloise.

Toby Hulse is a playwright and director who specialises in making theatre for family audiences and in educational contexts. He has created work for theatres and companies across the UK, touring nationally and internationally. Between 1999 and March 2004, Toby was Associate Director of Education at Bristol Old Vic. Productions include: A Christmas Carol (Adaptor for Lakeside Theatre), Pinocchio (Adaptor for The Point Eastleigh), The Arabian Nights (Adaptor for the Watermill Newbury), Team Time (Deviser and Director for Oxford Playhouse), The Wind in the Willows (Adapter for the Watermill Newbury and the Polka Theatre, London).

Director Joel Scott Joel co-founded Goat and Monkey and co-creates and directs all of their work. Previous productions include The Seed (online and in the Great Gardens of Sussex), A Little Neck (Hampton Court Palace) and Reverence (Southwark Playhouse). Other directing includes two outdoor site productions for the National Youth Theatre, Slick (At Park Hill, the largest listed structure in Europe) and Living the Dream, (2010 World Expo in Shanghai). Joel has directed the annual Bigfoot pantomime, playing in primary schools across London for the past four years including Aladdin and Pinocchio. Joel was an original member of Punchdrunk, co-directing three of their early large-scale site-specific productions. Joel is a qualified secondary school teacher, running workshops for various organisations and also regularly teaches and directs site-specific productions for universities including London Metropolitan, Central School of Speech and Drama, Oxford Brookes University and Chichester University.

Designer Rebecca Brower was nominated for an Off West End Award 2013 for Best Set Design forHamlet at The Rose, Bankside as well as winning The Stage Newspaper Design award 2011 and The Equity Young Members Bursary Award. During 2012 Rebecca completed a year for London 2012 Ceremonies where she was on the design team for the Opening and Closing Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. In 2011 Rebecca was in the role of Assistant Associate Designer at The National Theatre where she designed in-house exhibitions and corporate events. Most recently Rebecca has been designing for Riverside Studios, Watford Palace Theatre and Oxford Playhouse. She is currently Associate Designer on Stuart: A Life Backwards by Jack Thorne, touring the UK.

The Southwark Playhouse is located at 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD. Nearest Tube: Borough / Elephant and Castle. Performances of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK run 6 December 2013 - 11 January 2014, playing Monday to Saturday at 7pm and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Extra Schools matinees on 11, 12 17, 18 December (all at 1.30pm). Extra Christmas matinees on 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31 December (all at 2.30pm) (NB: no 7pm performances on 24, 25, 26, 31 December).

Box Office: Online at www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk (24 HOURS/NO BOOKING FEES); By Telephone at 020 7407 0234 (NO BOOKING FEES). Ticket Prices: All previews £10 (6, 7, 9 December); £16 (£14 Conc.); Family Tickets £50 (2 adults, 2 Under 16's). Concessions: Disabled people can bring one companion free of charge.