Review: Jack and the Beanstalk panto, Oak Theatre
There ain’t nothing like a dame!
Not in a South Pacific kind of way, it’s not that time of year – we’re talking about panto, and about how a dame parachuted into the middle of a panto run (must be the size of the dress to make a parachute) helped to save Christmas.
When a panto dame falls ill suddenly, it’s like seeing a pan of alphabetti spaghetti spilling all over your clean kitchen floor – it can spell disaster.
Fortunately for the Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime at Oak Theatre near Southport, the very talented DG Foster floated in to save the day.
The Mary Poppins of the panto world arrived at the last minute to sprinkle some magic on the show when they needed help, a spoonful of sugar to further sweeten an already delightful cast.
When we saw Jack and the Beanstalk, it was only DG Foster’s second day of performing! It was quite an ask for such a major role. Our youngest daughter came away saying he was her favourite performer.
This is the first year that Oak Theatre, based in the grounds of Scarisbrick Hall School, has staged a pantomime to entertain families in the festive season.
The brand new state-of-the-art theatre is a superb facility and with word still spreading, it’s one of the Southport areas hidden gems. It won’t stay that way for long.
There is free parking right outside; there’s an excellent cafe on-site; and it’s just enough out of the way to ensure a real sense of escapism.
It’s a small and intimate theatre too, perfect for an immersive panto experience.
It felt you were part of the show in some scenes, with the audience invited to get involved with the songs and the interactions, especially in the 12 days of Christmas scene where bouncy balls and other objects were flying back and forth.
It made it enjoyable and fun. The price of tickets was very reasonable too, another factor when there’s a few of you going to see a show.
It was a very talented cast. The headline name was Coronation Street star Calum Lill, who plays the evil Fleshcreep, with a few Corrie references thrown into the script.
He was excellent, as were the other cast members as they all worked together to help their new panto dame into the show. It felt like a really tight-knit cast with a real family feel.
DG Foster already knew most of his lines well, if not all the lines to all the songs, which was remarkable in such a short space of time.
There were tonnes of jokes in there too – actually funny ones rather than ones you’d heard a million times before which was great.
Calum, who played the Street’s bad boy Joel Deering, is joined on the Oak Theatre stage by real-life couple Danny Childs and Suzanne Fulton as Jack Trott and Princess Jill, Mary Shanker as Mary the Fairy and Michael Lawless as King Bling.
They came across well in a show that was full of laughter and fun.
Tickets for the Jack and the Beanstalk panto, presented by Anton Bensons Productions Ltd, are priced from £14.
Audiences can expect two-and-a-half hours of toe-tapping song and dance, colourful costumes, fantastic sets – encompassing the venue’s 4k digital wall, and stunning special effects all wrapped up in a hilarious laugh-a-minute script.
Oak Theatre has partnered with veteran panto producer Anton Benson Productions to present its first professional pantomime on the stage. ABP produces successful Christmas pantomimes for five other venues across the North West in addition to providing Easter pantos for more than 15 venues across the UK each spring.
For more information and tickets visit https://oaktheatreandstudios.co.uk/
LISTINGS FOR JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
Date: Saturday 13 December – Wednesday 24 December 2025 (schools only shows daytime 15-19 December)
Time: Various times. See website for full schedule.
Tickets: From £14.
Oak Theatre and Studios
Scarisbrick Hall,
Southport Road,
Scarisbrick,
Ormskirk
L40 9RU
https://oaktheatreandstudios.co.uk
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