Portsmouth panto: Jack and Mother Goose take the stage

Portsmouth's panto season is shaping up to be a busy one, with two big names taking the stage this winter. The Kings Theatre in Southsea is bringing back Jack and the Beanstalk, while the Theatre Royal puts on Mother Goose, so there's a choice depending on whether you want a grand old theatre or something a bit more intimate.

Jack and the Beanstalk opens on Friday 4 December and runs through to Thursday 31 December, with the first full day of shows on Saturday 5 December. The cast is a real mix of familiar faces. Sean Smith, an X Factor finalist and Same Difference star, returns as Jack Trott, a role he played back in 2021. Jack Edwards is back as Dame Trott, his twelfth year as the resident dame and his first as director, and he's joined by Shaun Williamson, best known as Barry Evans in EastEnders, who plays Fleshcreep and became the first patron of Portsmouth Theatres earlier this year. Joe Pollard is Simon Trott, Stephanie Aves is Jill, and Catherine Saunders plays the Spirit of the Beans. Pollard has been acting since he was 12 and played Wishee Washee in last year's Aladdin, while Aves picked up Best Female Role in a Musical at the Spotlight Awards for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also at the Kings.

The schedule is built for families, with morning, afternoon and evening slots across the run, plus a BSL performance on Saturday 5 December at 2pm and a relaxed performance on Sunday 12 December at 10:30am. There are school shows on the 10, 11, 15, 16 and 17 December, and for the adults, two late-night Mucky Panto shows are tucked into the run, with an extra date added because of demand. Tickets start at £10, under-16s get £2 off, family tickets are available, and groups of 20 or more pay from £27 a head, with an educational rate if you book through groupbookings@kingsportsmouth.co.uk.

Over at the Theatre Royal on Guildhall Walk, Mother Goose is the other half of the season, produced by Portsmouth Theatres and directed by Jack Edwards and Julia Worsley, both of whom have worked on West End, national and international tours. Edwards also co-directs a community panto version of Mother Goose at the same venue. Cherry Liquor, the Portsmouth drag performer known from Britain's Got Talent and Comedy Central, plays Mother Goose, and is joined by Gil Downs as Charlie Goose, Sarah Partridge as Fairy Goodfeather, Faith Adams as Jess Goose, Daren Cooper as Billy Goose and Gary Fairhall as Squire Squashem, who has come out of retirement for the part. Adams is making her panto debut after dance training, and Fairhall's return is one of the show's talking points. The run tops 40 performances and goes right up to New Year's Eve, with two late-night Mucky Panto shows of its own. The Theatre Royal seats 500, so it's a smaller room than the Kings.

Speaking of the Kings, it's worth knowing what you're walking into. The theatre on Albert Road in Southsea was designed by Frank Matcham and opened on 30 September 1907, and it's been Grade II* listed since 1976. It holds around 1,400 people and now runs on a computerised booking system, so it's a bit of history that's kept pace with the times. Between the two shows, Portsmouth's panto season has plenty of room for everyone.