by
Michael Reckford,
Contributor
THE MOST striking aspect of the 60th annual LTM Pantomime, Jack And The Macca Tree, at the Ward Theatre, is its looks. It's pretty.
Give thanks to Michael Lorde (set designer), Anya Gloudon (costumes), Symonne Coombs (props) and George Carter and Michael McDonald (lighting).
But even before the curtain opens and you see the beauty, you enjoy the bouncy overture which, Jamaican folk song cognoscenti recognise, contains a number of folk standards. Among them are Balanci-Oh, Linstead Market, and Under De Coconut Tree.
As the nine-piece orchestra, directed by Grub Cooper, plays the last note, the scene revealed is a market in an unnamed rural Jamaica village. In the background, painted on the backdrop, are surrounding hills and trees.
Stretched across centrestage are colourful stalls with colourful clothes, shoes, dry goods, fruit and ground provisions. The setting suggests joy and abundance and the colourfully dressed villagers who enter singing reinforce the suggestion.
In fact, drought is on the land and there are shortages of various kinds. A giant who lives nearby is blamed.
Later Lorde shows us the pretty Georgian-styled home of Miss Daisy (Faith Bucknor), the community's 'mother figure' and real mother of the Jack of the title. (Kevin Roache, who played the part the night I saw the show, alternates with Audley Green).
A third setting is the home of the giant. All we ever see of him in his dining room is his lower limbs, from feet -- which rest on the floor -- to knees, which disappear under the table high above the stage. At another time we see his gigantic hand. His kitchen contains oversize cupboards and an oversize oven and door.
Other characters that we meet in this deliberately retrospective musical -- which pays homage to the first LTM pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk (1941) -- include four animals, a cow, a goat, a pig and a donkey. The actors portraying these creatures were elaborately fashioned animals with masks over their heads.
The presence of these characters indicates that the show is aimed primarily at children. These should enjoy the visual aspects of pantomime, including energetic acting, the general movement (by George Howard, Alice Berry and Joyce Campbell) and especially the slapstick antics of the animals. They should enjoy the catchy music and Barbara Gloudon's amusing lyrics.
I'm not sure, however, that the story will grab children's interest. It's not the sort of story that does. It is about the attempt by Jack and his girlfriend, Angelina (newcomer Sharon Edwards looked pretty and spoke well on my night), to retrieve the four animals from the giant's home. The animals had been conned into going there by Charlie Croomoochin (Recordo Redwood), the meat-loving giant's servant.
It's a tale (developed by Conliffe Wilmot-Simpson and Barbara Gloudon with the Pantomime workshop) without tension or suspense, which children's tales must have. More importantly, the story has a main villain who does nothing for the two hours except ask for meat.
A weak, ineffectual villain does not allow anyone in a story to be strong. It would have been better if the giant had been a large costumed man walking around and physically confronting animals and people.
