A COUNTRY and western take on Jack and the Beanstalk is being developed by the Thurgoland Thespians.

‘Yeeha – It’s Jack and the Beanstalk Country Style’, is a unique pantomime, blending the story of Jack’s giant-slaying with the stylings of Oklahoma.

Nick Hibberd, director, said: “The beauty of pantomime is the fact that the director has the poetic licence to set the period and the scene according to his or her own preferences.

“For this reason, we decided to give our pantomime that ‘country and western’ feel – a unique combination of Oklahoma, Blazing Saddles and Footloose, but at the same time keeping ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ that is associated with any traditional pantomime.”

Running from January 31 to February 3, this will be the longest pantomime the group’s ever produced, with plenty of new actors joining the team.

Nick added: “Despite losing a couple of actors through natural progression such as attending iuniversity and alike, we have had ten new members join the group in October when we started rehearsals for this year’s production.

“As a fundraising production for the Thurgoland Village Welfare charity, we only want to cover our costs for the next production, with any profit going towards the upkeep of the village hall where we perform.

“What is more important to us is that we encourage people to experience theatre, even amateur theatre, both as a participant or as part of the audience.”