05 Aug 2025
“It doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world…”
Well if you’re talking about impoverished widow Tilly Trott, her gullible son Jack and his, er, bovine bestie Daisy, then let’s hope they actually amount to some magic beans, because that’s what they’re going to need come Christmas.
It’s a scorching summer’s afternoon in Harpenden, and the air con at the Eric Morecambe Centre is struggling to keep things cool in the basement bar – so what better time to meet the stars of this year’s festive pantomime?
In fact, this is also the initial meeting between any of the cast from Polka Dot Productions’ Jack and the Beanstalk, and as they’re in full costume for promotional photos it makes for a very unconventional ‘first day of work’ experience for all of them.
With months to go before they even begin rehearsals, nobody’s seen a script, and their character interpretations are very much of their own devising, which makes interviewing them about the production somewhat challenging…
Taking the lead baddy role as Fleshcreep is Theo Mayne, one of the Faithful in the first series of BBC TV hit The Traitors, who although he was presented as a cheerleading coach in the show, actually has a long career in professional theatre.
“I started amateur dramatics when I was 10 years old, and I absolutely loved being on stage and performing. I did want to go to drama school, but we could never afford it as a family, so amateur dramatics was a chance to learn the process.
“I’ve done shows like West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, High School Musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, so I absolutely love the stage.
“But on The Traitors I wanted to portray myself as a cheerleading coach because cheerleading is very underrated in the UK so it was a chance to bring more exposure to the sport itself.”
Appearing on what at the time was an unknown murder mystery reality show proved to be perhaps one of the best decisions of his career.
“It has 100 per cent changed my life. I’d done a couple of game shows before but I knew I wanted to do more, so I literally typed into Google ‘be on a TV show’ and up popped The Traitors, and lo and behold I got onto it.
“It’s allowed me to do some absolutely fantastic things over the years, and I’m so grateful for that.
“Because it was the first series as well, it was such a different concept. It was something where people stayed at home to watch the finale, so it’s great to be associated with that.
“We had no idea what the show was going to be like, we had no idea of the outcome, literally we were the guinea pigs.
“It’s now probably one of the highest grossing TV shows globally, so it’s nice to be an OG on that.”
As one of the ‘Original Gangster’ Faithful, he’s got a reputation for being nice, but many of his other stage roles have also tended to be the good guys, characters like panto staple Dandini for example, so Fleshcreep presents a new opportunity for being bad…
“I think people see me as a happy-go-lucky guy, very confident, very calm, so I’m definitely going to make Fleshcreep very sassy and a bit of a diva, but I also want to showcase that I do have a dark side.
“If I’d been a Traitor I would have been brutal, I would not have held back in any way, shape or form, so I think in this role I can show a different side to me, and he’s definitely going to be wild.”
Holly Elle Martin aka Princess Jill, has the unusual experience of meeting her Fairy Godmother Rosie Winter for the first time that day.
“How time flies!” Rosie jokes.
Having played fairies before in productions of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, she has no qualms about being typecast: “I did get a chance to be one of the princesses, and I was like, ‘I just think I’m a fairy’, I think that’s the role that fits me.
“I like that there’s a bit of comedy around it and normally all your scenes are on your own because then you’ve got more chance to play. I think there’ll be a lot of audience participation, laughs and giggles, I’m sure everyone will enjoy it and have a great time.”
Aside from pantomime, Rosie has just moved from her native York to St Albans: “My boyfriend works in London and when you’re a performer it’s good to be down south for the auditions and classes, and St Albans was the perfect location. It’s not York but it’s very similar.”
Having made her debut in pantomime last year, Holly is keen to build on her experiences in Harpenden: “It was so much fun, and I definitely think it’s made me grow as a performer.
“Obviously at uni you learn certain things and how to act, but you never really put it into practice until you’re on stage and realise what you need to bring to the role.
“Cinderella is a great one to start with because it’s a strong female lead, and I was so lucky to get to work with Polka Dot because they’re like a family, it’s just so nice.”
Kicking off his panto career is Joe Johnson as Jack Trott, who really is just overjoyed to be taking part: “I’m just so eager to get started. I’m desperate to get on the stage, I think it’s going to be brilliant!”
This year’s double act are returning favourite Josh Handley as Dame Tilly Trott, and Chris Gannon as Silly Simon.
Chris points at his photo in the production notes: “That’s me. I have no beard now.”
Josh pipes up: “Because you have to play a child.”
“Yeah I have to play a child,” Chris responds. “I’m typecast forever.”
Despite only meeting earlier that day, there’s already an energy between the pair, which bodes well for the production.
Josh, who is now well established as Harpenden’s pantomime dame, relishes the opportunity to work with a new partner and have someone different to bounce off.
“I’m ready for the carnage,” he growls in a thick Basildon accent.
Chris adds: “When I found out I’d got this role, and saw that Josh was doing it, I reached out to him on Instagram and said, ‘Ah, you’re going to be my mum’!
“I love panto, I love the silliness of it all, and being the comic is so much fun because you really get to know the audience and build up a proper relationship with them.
Josh adds: “Obviously we can test each other, and if we throw the others off, well that’s on them!”
Having been a regular in the town for many Christmases now, Josh is looking forward to somewhere in particular: “My biggest recommendation is always Simmons. It’s the reason I come back every year. Cheese and bacon turnover, stunning.”
After the comedians comes the straight man.
An alumnus of the acclaimed Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Clive Marlowe is more frequently found strutting the boards in the West End or on film and television, with his panto bio claiming he can be found portraying various pillars of the community including tax inspectors, vicars and football referees!
His theatre experiences have included training with legendary Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson for One Boy’s Own Story, and scaring DJ Alex Zane out of his wits in The Woman in Black.
As the King of Harpendia, he’s following a previous appearance in the town as Maurice in Beauty and the Beast back in 2023, and admits to having no reservations about being the brunt of the gags in the show.
“I haven’t seen the script, but sometimes the king has a bit of a love interest with the dame, or maybe it will be the villain this year!
“The most important thing is to be working with a nice bunch of people, because we do so many shows together.
“We don’t need any divas!” he laughs.
With rehearsals not starting until the end of November, it’s a weird situation where he’s thrown together with a load of people he’s never met for the day, and won’t see them again for months.
“We just met each other this morning and then were dong these strange things like going on fairground rides and slides together at Willows Farm!”
Jack and the Beanstalk runs at the Eric Morecambe Centre from December 6-30. For tickets visit https://everyonetheatres.com/whats-on/jack-the-beanstalk-2025/
