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 The pantomime heroes (Cory Martin, Rebekah Tysoe and Vrnda Torckler)
Gulf News, November 2003 Jack and the Genetically Modified Beanstalk
If there was ever a time for a pantomime about development, it must be just about now.
And as the curtain calls went off at Jack and the Genetically Modified Beanstalk on Friday evening, it was clear panto was back and islanders were laughing at themselves again.
From the old cream pie joke to the artful techniques of cross-dressing (mostly artful, anyway Alan), the show had every gag in the book, backed by a rollicking narrative and a great cast to boot.
But there's the serious side, too - the tale of Jack, a brave and naive hero struggling against the ravenous nature of development, in the form of one nasty Baron WILey. There's a real story here too.
There was a refreshing relevance to contemporary politics in the script, with the currency of the story making sense of the idea that such a panto might be devised every Christmas.
 Robin Hood (Rob Legg-Bagg) and Merrie Person (Jean Sommerfield) confront Jack
As WILey, Bruce Davis-Goff is part developer, part monster with just a hint of vampire and earned every boo he got plus more.
Served, though inadequately, by bumbling council bureaucrats Speedbump and Pothole (scriptwriter Alan Knight), WILey tries everything to stamp his mark on all aspects of island life.
But by the good and the true is he foiled. Enter Jack, (played by Rebekah Tysoe, who expertly centres the show) and his most excellent friend The Pig (Cory Martin, which is surely a name to watch).
There's Lord and Lady Welloff (Michael and Eileen Evans), chardonnay-sippers ensconced on the community board until thrown into prison by the usurping WILey.
There's Widow Shabby, played by Andy Spence (who expertly un-centres the show) and a couple of inflatable things. There's even a totally gratuitous scene with flour.
Then there's The Giant, seemingly duplicitous but ultimately Jack's saviour, played by a grumbly Bruce Bisset, who is highly convincing despite not exactly towering over the lad.
And not to forget Bumble, the hayseed moron brought brilliantly to life by the highly entertaining and eminently watchable Alex Duncan.
Or the poo-carrying magic fairy (Sylvia Hubbard) or the scary, co-conspiring witch (Jan Scott).
With Baron WILey finally strangled by something rather less than organic, the translation of the story to Waiheke is complete, rounding off a plethora of local reference, including "acres of corrugated iron" and the odd newspeeper odditor.
The show is a tribute to teamwork, even if things were not, as we were regularly reminded, done by the book. So hats off to the scriptwriter for satirising our own stories and for coming up with this particular format, a kind of community polit-panto. And of course to the cast and crew for its highly entertaining delivery. Greg Treadwell.  Jack (Rebekah Tysoe) meets Robin Hood (Rob Legg-Bagg) who has strayed into the wrong story for no readily discernible reason. |
