Coffee Beans and Magic Beans
Writing panto since 1986…..
Mike Finn’s blog post about Jack and the Beanstalk – running at the Lime Tree Theatre from Dec 9th 2022 – Jan 8th 2023.
I wrote my first panto in 1986. It was a tad over-written. The first performance was so long that three of the children playing dwarfs had grown actual beards by the time the curtain came down.
Much has happened since then; the Berlin Wall came down, a new millennium dawned, Munster won the Heineken Cup (twice), Limerick won the all-Ireland (loads of times.) Oh, and I wrote twelve other panto scripts – all of them, mercifully shorter than the first.
Here I am, at it again.
It’s a bit weird writing a Christmas show outside a coffee shop in the searing heat. Trying to figure out in August what will be funny in December is a bit of a lottery. Like tossing magic beans out the window and hoping for the best. The world is changing fast and mostly we are not amused. Will Brexit still be funny? Was it ever? Will people have forgotten Donald Trump? Or just wish they had? Will Willie O’Dea’s moustache still get a laugh? Well, obviously.
Some things are certain – there will be much scribbling and many crossings-out before opening night – and probably, beyond. Jack WILL climb the beanstalk. There WILL be a cow …and a giant … and a man in a dress. There will be singing and dancing and shouts of, “he’s behind you!”
Oh, and it will all be over before 10.30 – I promise.
Now, you must excuse me, here comes my coffee.
Book tickets here