Jack and the Wild Goose Chase or Harlequin Hatched

Jack is back! The Piccolo Theatre of Evanston presents Jack and the Wild Goose Chase or Harlequin Hatched, based on the traditional Victorian British musical theatre-form called “Panto” or “Pantomime”. For a very long time, the holiday season in Britain could count on the theater for an annual topsy-turvy brush with fantastic extravagance and ridiculouness – the Panto, one of the earlier precursors of the zany British style of comedy. The Piccolo Theatre’s retelling of “Jack and the Beanstalk” taps straight into the old traditions. Our hero, Jack, is played by a beautiful woman with remarkable legs. His mother is portrayed by a man with indifferent legs. The audience is actively engaged to sort of…help out with the show – to warn the actors of imminent danger, to remind them of things they need to do, and so forth. There’s music and singing, there’s a panotmime cow and a pantomime goose that lays golden eggs. The bad guy comes in from the left and the forces of good from the right. That’s the way it used to be and it’ll be that way for just a little while at the Panto.