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Taking their final bow at the Festival Theatre before the long-awaited return to the King’s across the Meadows, Edinburgh’s panto triumvirate make sure they go out with a bang in this giant of a production this Christmas.
The warning comes early on – Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You is a verbal contract with the Edinburgh audience and this variety-style show doesn’t disappoint.
The vast auditorium of the Festival Theatre – the huge temporary home for Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young while their Leven Street residence gets a well deserved makeover – is no problem for this panto-de-force to fill.
Every crevice is bombarded with a wall of sound, dazzling lights and a brilliant neon set fresh from the London Palladium stage. It’s a visual and audio spectacle like no other – truly the biggest (in all senses) resident panto in Scotland, and matched in scale by its production value.
Of course, the vehicle for the relentless comedy sketches, jokes that would make your granny gasp and musical numbers comes from its incredible star turns.
Pretty legs and great big boobies – that’s Edinburgh’s legendary Dame Aunty May (Dame May McTrott, this year), inimitably portrayed by Allan Stewart. Stewart delivers a masterclass in panto damehood; perpetually in control, delivering big brash numbers and dangerously risqué humour by the bucket load. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone doing it better.
May McTrott’s glakit son Jack (Jordan Young) raves his way into the hearts of the wee ones, with an energy and sense of fun that’s infectious. His Tom Cruise-inspired desire to do his own stunts results in a truly heroic climb up the beanstalk that defies gravity.
Gail Watson’s Spirit of the Beans is magic – literally. With a sprinkle of fairy dust, Watson is a feisty dose of magic to take us on this Pantoland adventure.
For all the good, every panto needs a baddie – and Grant Stott’s Fleshcreep (shoosh, listen…) is deliciously devilish. This guy might be the Giant’s henchman, but he’s really a figure of fun for Dame May, Jack, Jill (beautifully played by Amber Sylvia Edwards) and the crew.
It’s impossible not to be overwhelmed by this unbelievable show. The only restraint from panto perfection is its narrative – or lack thereof.
Pantomime often plays fast and loose with plot, but Jack and the Beanstalk does an incredible job of ignoring it completely, stripping the show of structure – beyond the massive jaw-dropping beanstalk, that is.
Does it need it? It just about gets away with it, such is the genuinely awesome spectacle of it all. It’s amazing what a musical interlude and some cracking jokes can do!
At its heart, Jack and the Beanstalk is a giant pantomime of epic proportions. It’s loud, outrageous and in your face. It’s a festive delight that is a fitting final bow for panto at the Festival Theatre. Roll on the return to the King’s!
Jack and the Beanstalk at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh until 11th January 2026 – https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/panto-2025-jack-and-the-beanstalk/
Photo Credit: Douglas Robertson
