Panto lacks beans

Some say that Advent candle number one, or the first musical conjunction of partridges and pear trees marks the beginning of the Christmas season, but for others it's the pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Stratford. Last year's triumphant production of Aladdin reopened Joan Littlewood's old stamping ground after a lengthy closure for building work, and hopes were thus high for another production by the director/designer team of Kerry Michael and Jenny Tiramani.

Warning bells ring, however, on reading the programme note from the writer of the book and lyrics, Hope Massiah. "I didn't go to the theatre when I was a child and my knowledge of pantomime comes from television," she admits. Television? Oh, no it doesn't. Oh, yes it does, actually, as Massiah has come up with a muddled scenario that leaves the notoriously boisterous Stratford audience subdued.

Leading man Kat B, so exuberant last year as a streetwise Aladdin, but wasted here with a whimpering little-boy-lost voice, recognised the problem almost immediately on press night. "Hey guys, it's two hours - stick with me here," he commented after a particularly lacklustre response. The difficulty is finding anything to get especially vocal about, in a jarring initial Oklahomatype gingham-and-hoe-down setting at the "Stratford Harvest Festival".

Things pick up the more we hear of Delroy Murray's excellent music. Trixie (daughter of the nebulouslydefined baddie Trickster) would give Ms Dynamite a run for her money in the attitude stakes with the sassy So, What You Wanna Know My Name For? and Murray produces plenty more individual and group hits.

But, in the midst of such tunefulness, the plot disintegrates apace, as Jack makes a succession of pointless returns to the beanstalk-topping lair of the impressively enormous ogres.

Pantomimes at this venue are rightly renowned for their multiculturalism, and this year boasts a black dame, David Webber's Caribbean mother Mrs Sweet. Webber opts for laidback-rather than the hammy overacting traditionally associated with this role, a decision that might win him points for being cool but elicits no great sympathy from the spectators. All in all, this amounts to an evening that is, to cite a favourite character from Aladdin, decidedly Wishee-Washee.

>Until 25 January. Box Office: 020 8534 0310.
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Jack And The Beanstalk