With adult pantomime becoming an increasingly popular fixture on London’s festive entertainment calendar,, Jack Off The Beanstalk, produced by The Entertainment Providers, is on at The Scala and promises to be a “big, brash, and obscene” take on the familiar tale.
“The producers that brought last year’s sell-out show Sinderella are back for 2026 with a brand-new production of Jack Off The Beanstalk at the prestigious Scala in the heart of London’s West End!!
Get ready for raucous laughter, innuendos, outwinds and unexpected encounters that will have you begging for more!
Jack’s hard… on his luck!
When the evil Queen Genetalia calls for the rent, and there’s no cash to spare, Jack and his brother Thick Twatt and his mother, Dame Twatt, are left clutching their sagging udders with nothing left in their coin purse.
Will Jack use his chopper, rise to the occasion and beat off the giant? Will Jack marry Princess Jill of “Titty On The Hill?” What will become of Jack’s beloved “Clitty” the cow?
I chatted with cast members Sam Wyatt – playing Thick Twatt – and Rebecca Goddard – playing Clitty the Cow – to find out more about their characters, the production and why audiences should expect plenty of outrageous humour.
You’ve got a rather unusual title for your production! How did the name come about?
Sam: I think it was quite a difficult conversation! They started with the idea that they really wanted to express the story, and worked backwards from there. The challenge was making it explicitly adult while still keeping it recognisable as Jack and the Beanstalk.
Rebecca: I think they wanted to have a bit of fun with it while making sure everyone knew exactly what sort of panto it was going to be.
Sam, tell us about your character.
Sam: I got the character’s name before I even saw the script, so I had absolutely no idea what sort of person he was going to be. When I eventually read it, I realised he’s essentially the comic relief. He breaks up a lot of the action with jokes and puns, but he’s also quite self-aware, which I was pleased about.
And Rebecca, you’re playing the cow. That sounds like quite an important role!
Rebecca: Personally, I think it’s the starring role! You don’t come to see panto for anything other than the cow, do you?
I’m the walking, talking cow. I’m not the front end or the back end – I’m just the cow!
She’s a bit self-aware. She knows she’s a bit of a laughing stock, but she’s also almost the grounded character of the show. She’s looking around thinking, “Hang on a minute, I’m the cow. How am I smarter than all these people?”
She’s a bit grumpy and doesn’t particularly want to be there. She’s essentially the voice of reason, pointing out the ridiculousness of everyone else’s jokes and behaviour.
Is this your first experience of adult panto?
Rebecca: Yes, it’s my first time. I’ve never done panto before, so I’m really excited about it.
Sam: I did a sort of one-off panto last year, but it was much more family-friendly. When I got the details of this one and saw the script, I realised that all bets were off! It’s going to be as obscene as we can possibly make it without getting arrested!
You’ve both had a look around The Scala in King’s Cross now. What did you make of the venue?
Rebecca: We went on Monday for our press call. I’d never been there before and wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it’s a lovely venue. The building is beautiful, and it’s a really nice space.
Sam: It’s an amazing building. When you’ve only got the script and descriptions of the venue, you don’t quite know what to expect. Then you actually see the place and think, wow, this is a proper production. It suddenly feels very real, and it looks like it’s going to be something really special.
What was it about this particular production that made you want to get involved?
Rebecca: I’d never done panto before, so I thought, let’s go all in with adult panto! No joke left behind!
As we started getting the scripts, I realised just how much fun it was going to be. There’s something about panto that’s so freeing. You can leave your inhibitions behind, forget about everything else and just concentrate on being funny. That’s what really attracted me to it.
Sam: I’m a stand-up comedian, and the opportunity came up on one of the Facebook pages I use for finding gigs. I thought it looked great.
December can be quite a tricky month for stand-up because audiences can sometimes be distracted, and you’ve got to work hard to keep their attention. With this, I thought, that’s a whole month of shows and a completely different experience.
I also liked the idea of working with an ensemble. As a stand-up, you’re often on your own, driving around the country and spending hours in the car. Meeting everyone on Monday was great. Everyone seems lovely, and we all got on really well very quickly. It feels like it’s going to be a really fun production.
Will audiences still get all the traditional panto ingredients – songs, dancing and audience participation?
Rebecca: Definitely! There are songs and dancing, and we’ve only recently got the song list. It’s a fantastic mix of classic music from the seventies, eighties and nineties, alongside some newer songs.
We’re starting with “Thriller”, and we’ve also got “Where Is My Husband!” It’s a really great mix of popular songs.
I think that’s what’s so much fun about panto. It’s such an audience-focused experience, so you don’t want to have songs that nobody has ever heard of. We’re going for the popular ones!
There seem to be more and more adult pantomimes in London now. Is it a challenge to make your production stand out?
Sam: I think promotion is more important than ever in show business. You’ve got to get your work out there, get photographs and video content online, and make sure people can see that it’s going to be a laugh.
If somebody is looking for an adult panto, they’re probably going to choose the one that’s most convenient for them. So you’ve got to make sure you’re reaching people through Facebook and Instagram.
The benefit we have is that last year’s production went down really well, so there’s already a returning audience. We’ve got to build on that and make sure the promotional material looks good and captures what the show is really about.
Sam, with your stand-up background, audience interaction should come quite naturally. How much of that is scripted and how much will be improvised?
Sam: There’s a lot in the script, and I think there has to be. You need something solid to work from.
But I’ve been doing this sort of thing for around 15 years, particularly in stand-up, where you’re always talking to the audience and finding things to work with.
We’ve got a really good, tight script, but the interaction will change depending on who’s in the audience. There’s no point having five jokes about someone from Lincoln if nobody in the audience is from Lincoln!
Weekday audiences will be different from weekend audiences, so every performance will have its own character. That’s why they wanted a comedian involved – someone who can actually work with the crowd and adapt.
Rebecca, tell us a little more about your background before joining the production.
Rebecca: I trained in acting and musicianship, so a lot of my previous work has been in musical theatre and acting. Last year I did Camden Fringe, which was a very different experience from panto.
Comedy has always appealed to me, though. Growing up, I watched things like Horrible Histories, and then when Ghosts came along, I loved that too. There’s something about comedy and clowning that I’ve always been interested in.
I went to drama school, and a lot of what panto is based on comes from traditional comedy, clowning and theatrical archetypes. You’ve got the comic characters, the leading man and leading lady, and then the cow, who is almost a sort of Harlequin figure.
It will be really interesting to take all that theory and put it into practice. I’ve never really had the opportunity to do proper panto comedy before, so I’m very excited.
How would you describe the show to someone in just one sentence?
Sam: Big, brash and obscene! And it’s going to be a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a great night out, I think this is going to be it.
Rebecca: I think it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. We’re going to milk every single joke, and you’re going to have a moo-ving time!
Sam: There you go! Let’s give her a round of applause for that one!
And finally, are Jack and Jill playing things relatively straight, while the rest of you create chaos around them?
Sam: I think they’re the ones pushing the story forward, and the comedy is happening around them to a certain extent. Obviously, there will be moments when things overlap, but I think they’re going to be brilliant. They look fantastic.
So, plenty of traditional panto, but with a decidedly adult twist?
Sam: Absolutely.
Rebecca: And don’t forget the cow!
Jack Off the Beanstalk runs at The Scala, King’s Cross, from 14 December until 3 January.