★★★★
Written by Jonathan O’Neill & Isaac Savage, Dundee Rep’s Jack and the Beanstalk offers a fresh perspective on the beloved fairy-tale. Caroline (Suzie McAdam), the cow Jack (Ronan O’Hara) trades for magic beans, is the star of the show, and she’s keen to set the record straight on what really happened. A feisty Highland Coo, she was gifted to Jack for Christmas and later provided the family with fresh milk for their ice cream parlour. After Jack’s father dies in a mysterious accident, she is so grief-stricken she cannot produce milk, and business grinds to a halt. When Jack and Caroline meet a Mysterious Man (Connor Going) who offers three magic beans in exchange for Caroline, Jack gratefully accepts, promising he will rescue her once he is rich. Yet one day trapped in the petting zoo is more than enough for Caroline, and she hatches a plan to break out and find her best friend.
The cast boast impressive credentials, and the whole performance is very polished and strong. McAdam is a powerhouse performer. She commands the stage from the second she introduces the show. Her vocals are incredible, and she manages to effectively convey Caroline’s pain and anguish in her main song ‘Udderly Alone’, despite the silly lyrics. The giant’s enchanted harp Harper, portrayed by David Rankine, is also captivating, despite being a smaller role only introduced in the second act. From the minute he steps on stage, he charms the audience. His bumbling manner and excitement over the “tiny” furniture in Jack’s house is extremely endearing.
Caroline is helped by Henrietta (Lucy Hutchison), Truffles (Mairi Barclay) and Lady Fluffington III (Lorriane Graham), her group of friends she meets at the petting zoo. Each have very differing personalities, but are bonded by a dream to break into show business. Lady Fluffington III is prone to quoting Shakespeare at random intervals, while Henrietta is literally the “mother hen” of the group, holding them together. Truffles’s dry humour and sarcasm is highly entertaining: a scene where she gets drunk on truffle oil, tries to fight Jack, then tearfully professes how much she loves her friends is a highlight.
The show is aimed at families, and the slapstick comedy and fart jokes are bound to keep children entertained. At times, it veers a bit too close to pantomime—when Jack’s mum Sherry (Laura Lovemore) warns him not to climb up the beanstalk, for example, there is a pause as if he is going to ask the audience what to do—but thankfully, manages to stay away from this. The inclusion of adult jokes and innuendos go down well with the grown-ups, but the strong performances are more than enough to capture the audience’s interest.
Puppets are cleverly used in the opening scenes to show a younger Jack and Caroline meeting for the first time, and then later when the animals break out of the petting zoo. They’re beautifully designed, especially the Highland Coo, which is impossibly cute. It’s a shame they don’t have a bigger part, as it is clear lots of time and thought has gone into creating them.
Each character’s backstory is fleshed out, and there are clever links to the original tale. O’Neill and Savage do a good job of creating some suspense, which is not an easy task considering how familiar Jack and the Beanstalk is. The second act is particularly strong; it is where the play’s deeper themes such as valuing yourself, the power of friendship, and following your dreams, are explored further. The show ends with a strong message about the importance of being kind, which comes across as inspiring, rather than preachy.
At times, the combination of talking animals, parachuting puppets and cheesy power ballads packed with cow puns feels like a fever dream—but in the best possible way. Overall, Jack and the Beanstalk is a quirky show brought to life by an extremely talented cast, and is well worth a watch if you’re in Dundee over the festive season.
Jack and the Beanstalk will be performed at Dundee Rep until 30 December.
Words by Ellen Leslie
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.