Jack and the Beanstalk
★★★★☆ In rude health
Festival Theatre: Sat 13 Dec 2025 – Sun 11 Jan 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Jack and the Beanstalk, the last time the ‘King’s panto’ appears at the Festival Theatre before its long-awaited return to the actual King’s, is another hugely enjoyable run-out for the established team of Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young.
The script (by Harry Michaels and Stewart, with additional material by Matt Slack, Stott and Young) is little more than a framework for a series of set-pieces and topical or local remarks. The routines may often be familiar, but they are done with such gusto and panache that they supply more than the requisite amount of entertainment.
Gail Watson and Jordan Young in Jack and the Beanstalk. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
While there is plenty for youngsters to relish (such as a lip-syncing sequence that relies heavily on explorations of stomach gas), much of the humour seems oddly skewed towards an older age range. There are too many occasions where a rhyme or punchline directs the audience to an (unspoken) obscenity, and there is one musical number whose content is decidedly ill-advised.
versatile, personable and consistently funny
There is still plenty of more widely acceptable humour on offer, however. Stewart is unflagging as Dame May McTrot and loses no opportunity to interact with the audience or extract the maximum humour from a gag.
He can even be forgiven a self-referential song about his panto career, having allegedly done this since his only available co-stars were dinosaurs. Young is versatile, personable and consistently funny as Jack, while Stott’s Fleshcreep reinforces the fact that his stature as a baddie is second to none.
Clare Gray and Amber Sylvia Edwards in Jack and the Beanstalk. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
A definite improvement from previous years is the realisation that if you are going to feature performers as talented as Clare Gray and Gail Watson, then you really have to give them something to do. Gray’s Pat the Cow, a frustrated thesp determined to hog the limelight, and Watson’s beautifully timed Spirit of the Beans are both extremely pleasing. This leads to a production where there is more of a genuine feeling of an ensemble.
short-changed
Amber Sylvia Edwards’s Princess Jill is somewhat more short-changed. The production seems determined not to make her any kind of romantic interest. Indeed, the dreaded kissy-kissy business is entirely absent here (except, oddly, for the revelation of a romantic past between Stewart and Stott’s characters).
In the absence of this, however, Jill’s role is oddly sidelined, which once again is something of a waste of Edwards’s undoubted talents.
Amber Sylvia Edwards and full company of Jack and the Beanstalk. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
Even by the standards of a big-budget panto, the plot is often an afterthought. The first half sags under the weight of a peculiar ‘Scottish variety show’ that doesn’t quite come off, with all notions of cow-selling or magic beans relegated to the closing stages of a first act that appears longer than it actually is.
stunning visual impact
When the beanstalk finally arrives, however, it is a marvel. There is no denying the stunning visual impact of the production. The sets of Mark Walters, Rory Beaton’s lighting, Richard Brooker’s sound, Theresa Nalton’s costumes, Ryan Dewar’s video and the special effects of The Twins FX mean this has all of the theatrical magic you could want, while the direction of Ed Curtis is slick and pacy.
Allan Stewart and Grant Stott in Jack and the Beanstalk. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
Meanwhile Karen Martin’s choreography, a sprightly team of dancers, and well chosen musical interludes – supplied by Andy Pickering’s tremendous band – keep everything racing along.
What has to be remembered is that there is a large proportion of the audience who will never have heard the jokes about Hibs or Fort Kinnaird before; indeed, for many of them it will be their first time inside a theatre.
commitment and love
The cast certainly know that, and perform it all with this in mind. And even for those of us who have seen such things more times than they might care to remember, the tongue-twisters, madcap recaps and fake corpsing can still be as much fun when they are done with this much commitment and love.
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes (including one interval)
Festival Theatre, 13-19 Nicolson St, EH8 9FT
Saturday 13 Dec 2025 – Sunday 11 Jan 2026
Mon – Sat at 2pm, 7pm; Sun, Xmas Eve, New Year’s Eve 1pm, 5pm. No perfs: 25 Dec, 1 Jan.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Full company of Jack and the Beanstalk. Pic: Douglas Robertson.
Panto 2026
Tickets for the 2026 pantomime, Pinocchio, staring Grant Stott, Allan Stewart and Jordan Young are now on sale.
Pinocchio
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ.
Saturday 28 November 2026 – Sunday 17 January 2027
Tue – Sat: 2pm & 7pm; Suns (& 24, 31 Dec): 1pm & 5pm. No performances 25 Dec, 1 Jan.
Tickets and details. Book here.
ENDS
