‘Boris the lying cockroach!’ bellows the man sporting the elf suit in the row behind us. ‘Boris the lying cockroach!’ shouts his wife and kids. Our young reviewers Frida and Woody find their voices as the whole audience gathered in Broadway Theatre’s beautiful Grade II listed auditorium for Jack and the Beanstalk take up the call in a cathartic release of pent-up frustration. Lewishfarm knows that emblematic tree will be chopped down; it’s only a case of when, write Frida, Woody and Ed Gray.
If the Johnson clan scuttled into a people carrier and instructed their security detail to give them safe passage to Catford (yes, it’s unlikely), what would they make of themselves in Ben Fox and Siobhan Athwal’s vivid recreations of Boris and Antoinette Cockroach and the six little Young Company cockroaches being derided before a jeering audience?
Boris Cockroach explains that ‘any resemblance to persons living or dead in this production are unintended’, but truth is a moveable feast for a greedy cockroach. The Elf-suited man lets out an expletive as the Cockroach exits stage right and we settle into writer and director Susie Mckenna’s revamped Beanstalk plot, expertly produced by Joy Productions.
It’s 25 years since Brexit and Britain is dependent on being entirely self sufficient, the oven ready deals have gone cold and Lewishfarm is under threat of environmental exploitation from the gold-loving Giant, which means Queen Bee’s bees are in trouble.
Plucky Jack and his friend SJ, enthusiastically played by Evelyn Hoskins as a cheery eco-warrior, must find a way to take on the Giant and make him see the error of his ways. They are very ably assisted by the brilliant Dame Dolores Trott as a proper Jamaican panto dame resplendent in a variety of striking outfits. Sauntering into the audience the Dame picks out a suitable young man for some onstage frolics with spotted chum Caroline the cow, much to the delight of all of us.
There’s a kicking band throughout the show and a cast of very fine singers perform a mix of numbers from Jimmy Cliff to Stevie Wonder via Timberlake and Billy Eilish’s Bad Guy, sung by Boris, of course. Frida and Woody, wide-eyed with joy as The Giant dances with the cast, clamber onto their seats for a rousing sing-along of Sweet Caroline as the whole audience rises to its feet.. ‘To live, to love to Lewishfarm!’ Good times never seemed so good and it’s a wonderful world full of diverse and beautiful people in Catford. It’s just a shame about the cockroaches.
Broadway Theatre, Rushey Green, Catford, London, SE6 4RU until 31st December. Times: Varied see website for details. Admission: £8.50 – £35.
Booking: https://broadwaytheatre.org.uk/
