Jack and the Beanstalk – rags and riches, poverty and privilege, a cow, some beans and a silent chicken (GBL Productions at Waterfront, extended until Sunday 11 January)

Jack is the boy who dares to dream. His widowed mother, Dame Polly Ester, runs a dress ‘shap’. Milkshake the cow zooms across the stage on a scooter, later inviting us all to be part of ‘the Moo Crew’. Jack’s taken with a girl called Jill who might be hiding her privilege. Her dad is also single and looking for love. This year’s Waterfront panto – Jack and the Beanstalk – has rags and riches, a subtle smattering of teenage hormones, a cow that should really be traded for cash, and a beanstalk climbing up towards the heavens.

Into this familiar world strides Swindleworth, with a pot belly and black and white striped trousers. The audience, young and old, know to boo before being told.

Jay Hutchinson gives off a whiff of haughty criminality – “as trustworthy as a Translink timetable” – with his character commanded to steal gold by his boss, the great Giant Causeway. Hutchinson milks every scene and becomes a real audience favourite.

Warren McCook has springs on the soles of his feet as he bounces around the stage like a teenager hooked on Monster. Sé Carr’s Milkshake is relentlessly upbeat. Meabh Quinn’s King Fluster is possessive of his child but mellows to become a warm character on stage.

Johanna Johnston matches McCook’s energy with an endearingly shrill performance as Jack’s coy and giddy best friend forever. They effortlessly duet, with an early sign of their talent their cover of Die With a Smile (“If the world was ending I'd wanna be next to you”).

No Waterfront pantomime would be complete without copious opportunities to run through the auditorium, and a chance for the villain to use a super soaker on the audience.

The cartoonish set matches the brashly coloured costumes. The choreography is boppy. Lighting effects are synced with sound effects and Jack’s dream of being a hero. I’d love to be able to name the creative team, but other than director Chris Robinson, details weren’t provided.

Ciaran Haggerty’s script revels in Hope Street jokes, audience participation, and clever wordplay. While adults in the audience might not recognise where they’ve heard some of the tunes before, anyone of primary school age recognises snatches of KPop Demon Hunters and may even jump up to do the actions unasked.

So far so good. The key ingredients of a great pantomime are all present. Aspects of the production are really well tuned to the target clientele. Yet what comes out of the oven is unevenly cooked.

If opening night (following a few days of previews) is typical, the show is too long, with a half-hearted audience singalong eeking out the runtime even further. Relegated to the end, the competitive singing is normally a filler while the rest of the cast would be off getting changed into their wedding finery (except budgets don’t extend to having new costumes for the final number). This year’s singalong could usefully be ditched.

The inclusion of a wordless chicken Nugget (played by Niamh Canning) who lays unseen golden eggs is a total mystery. It takes a long time before the titular beans arrive and grow into a beanstalk. With a brutal schedule of “three shows a day” as we were too oft reminded, the Dame’s threadbare banter with the audience has a lot of opportunity to mature and improve. More salty comments across more people in the first few rows would definitely help cement the pantomime spirit.

Jack and the Beanstalk is produced by GBL Productions and its run has been extended at the Waterfront Studio until Sunday 11 January.

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