‘Blue’ Peter Duncan’s new panto online - oh yes it is!
Panto Online and Peter Duncan are thrilled that, due to popular demand, they are extending online streaming of Jack and the Beanstalk until Sunday February 21.
Giant Blunderbore is in a terrible rage. He shouts from above threatening to eat any villager who won’t pay their rent.
The plot ... poor Dame Trott has to sell her precious cow ‘Buttercup’ and sends her son Jack to the cow market.
All he comes back with is a worthless bag of beans. Jill, the grumpy Squire’s daughter is kidnapped by the Giant’s dogsbody Fleshcreepy and taken to the castle in the clouds.
Will Jack be the hero, climb the beanstalk, rescue his girlfriend and save the world from the human chomping ogre? Only the magical Garden Fairy knows the answer to that.
Actor and former Blue Peter daredevil Peter Duncan conceived, wrote, composed songs, managed cast, design and direction as well as starring as the dame.
The show was performed in his back garden.
Panto is in his DNA. His parents were actor-managers. “My dad used to put on beach shows at places like Redcar Sands.
“When I came along in the ’50s, and he’d met my mum obviously, he was putting on pantos, so it’s kind of imbued in me, what I would call variety pantos. I used to go on stage and be his stooge.”
That would have started when he was around four or five he says. “The smaller you are, the funnier it is.
“I would finally make it onstage in the song sheet where I became the ‘feed’ to my fathers funny man.
“It was perhaps not surprising I became an actor at 15 and then going on to be a Blue Peter presenter and UK’s Chief Scout among many other lifetime adventures.
“It was decades later that I finally began to perform, write and produce Pantomimes myself around the UK,” he said.
Jack and the Beanstalk is full of his own ideas.
He’s borrowed from poet William Blake and composer Holst.
The Pixar film Up gets a nod as Dame Trott flies over London dangling from a bunch of balloons. There are contemporary references of course, too, so the opening song is called Lockdown.
“This production is an inspired ensemble effort in these unpredictable times. I really hope you enjoy all the creativity that has gone into the making of it,” he said.
Among the 35-strong cast are Peter Duncan, Sam Ebenezer, Ian Talbot, Nicola Blackman, Sarah Moss and Jos Vantyler.
It has attracted great reviews. Among them are ...
“A triumph for all concerned and a must see for all the family”.
Liam Rudden, Edinburgh Evening News
“Peter Duncan comes to the rescue in this awful, panto-depleted
year with this delight, filmed entirely in his back garden”.
The Arts Desk
“A sure-fire crowd pleaser… An absolute five-star joy”.
Scene Magazine
“It’s difficult not to fall in love with Peter Duncan’s selfpenned pantomime”.
The Stage
You can buy tickets and watch Jack and the Beanstalk at https://pantoonline. co.uk/ site. It is also available to schools, Scouts and Guide groups and care homes and you can find out more at https://pantoonline.co.uk/ schools-groups.
There’s even a weekly online drama club, so why not join their weekly Facebook Live with Peter Duncan from 11am – 11.30am each Wednesday from now until February? You can tune in at https://www.facebook.com/ PantoOnline/ site.