Let’s introduce Jack first. “I asked my boy Jack why he was staring at the orange juice,” says his mother, Dame Trot. “It says ‘concentrate’ on the bottle, he replied.”
Hoary old jokes come thick and fast in this year’s Derngate panto. Actually Jack (Ray Quinn — above) isn’t as stupid as his mother makes out, even though he doesn’t think to look in the bag of ‘gold’ that he’s received from Fleshcreep (Gavin Woods, dripping with evil) in payment for Daisy the Cow. But Jack proves a sparky character as he leads the assault up the beanstalk, to defeat Giant Blunderbore. Quinn has appeared in Grease and Dirty Dancing besides coming second on The X Factor, so this Jack can turn a good song too.
In support, there’s lively work from principals Adam Stafford (Dame Trot), Nick Weir (Jack’s brother Simon), Roy Sampson (King Crumble), and Emma Stephens (Princess Apricot), and an excellent gang of local children. But particularly memorable is mistress of hilarious impressions Hilary O’Neil, playing a feisty Fairy Cobblers. Fast moving, loud, and colourful — if that’s what your family likes in a panto, you won’t go wrong with this one.
Until January 9. Tickets: 01604 624811 (www.royalandderngate.co.uk).
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