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Jack and the Beanstalk (1973)

Intro

A Cambridge Theatre Co. production of a traditional pantomime, in a new version by John Moffatt, performed at Cambridge Arts Theatre (22 December 1973 - 26 January 1974).

Photos

Jack and the Beanstalk\\'s theatre programme includes a (very small) group photo of the Cambridge Theatre Company members, who took part in this production.  Zoë is standing near the middle of the group.

Cast

Crew

Director: Richard Cottrell
Designer: Bob Ringwood
Lighting Designer: Michael Outhwaite
Choreographer: Rae Landor
Musical Director: Chris Hamel-Cooke
Assistant Musical Director: Graham Ripley
The Band: Chris Hamel-Cooke (trumpet/trumbone), Graham Ripley (piano), Brian Filby (flute/clarinet), Adrian Kendon (bass/electric guitar), Roger Osbourn (drums/percussion)

Notes

Jack and the Beanstalk was presented by the Cambridge Theatre Company, the only production in the company's 1973-4 season that was not part of a regional tour. 

For this pantomime, with its large number of characters, Zoë and the other company members were joined by several additional actors: John Moffatt, Polly James, Mary Gurnell, Victoria Kempton, Neville Ware, Ian McArthur, Jan Cushion, and Cecilia McFarlane. 

Among the characters was Dick Whittington's cat: Zoe had performed the role in a 1971 production of Dick Whittington, though here she played a different part. 

Zoe was among a number of young performers at the Cambridge Theatre Company during its 1973-4 season (a period of around eight months).  With the other company members, she appeared in a diverse repertoire of plays, encompassing comedy, drama, and pantomime.  In addition to Jack and the Beanstalk, they performed Twelfth Night, Aunt Sally, She Stoops to Conquer, Fears and Miseries of the Third Reich, and French Without Tears.

Jack and the Beanstalk is the second of two pantomimes in which Zoë has appeared (the first is Dick Whittington, mentioned above).  Her experience of the genre informed her participation in 'The Story of Pantomime', a 1976 episode of arts-based documentary series Omnibus.