In January 2020, Wexford Pantomime Society presented Jack and the Beanstalk, a fresh and funny retelling of the much-loved tale (and final one to be performed in the Dun Mhuire Theatre). Set in Fairytale Land, the story opened with Mother Nature introducing the audience to a magical world in danger. Her wicked sister Poison Ivy had seized control, using the help of her gormless but terrifying associate, Mr. Big the Giant. With FairyTale Land under threat, the stage was set for a classic Panto adventure.

We met Dame Daisy, Jack’s long-suffering mother, who was struggling to keep her dairy farm afloat. Beside her lived Little Miss Muffet (Maisy), a nervous bundle of energy, afraid of spiders and just about everything else, and Little Boy Blue (Bobby), who was blue by name and by nature. Jack himself was full of spirit but short on brains, and his faithful talking cow Dougie added to the village’s colourful cast of characters.

Trouble came when the kindly Baron Backstop, under pressure from Poison Ivy, demanded rent that neither Jack nor his neighbours could pay. Forced to sell Dougie, Jack was tricked into trading him for a handful of beans by Poison Ivy’s henchmen, Jekyll and Hyde. To Dame Daisy’s fury, those beans grew overnight into a towering beanstalk, stretching into the clouds.

Determined to rescue his sweetheart Jill, who had been carried off by Mr. Big, Jack set out on a perilous quest. Joined by friends, the boastful “hero” Sir Desmond Dashing, and guided by Mother Nature, they climbed the beanstalk into a land of danger, magic, and comedy. Along the way, they encountered Finions, the Giant’s weary butler Dunston, and Hattie the Hen that laid golden eggs.

Packed with music, laughter, wacky characters and spectacular adventure, Jack and the Beanstalk proved another unforgettable chapter in the Society’s proud history.

It would be the last onstage Panto until 2023 due to a certain pandemic! However, the cast did reunite in 2021 with the help of modern technology to record an online Panto (under the guidance of Thomas O’Leary and Ted Moran)!

Photography by Paula Malone Carty