TAKE some magic beans, a giant and his giant wife, a lazy lad, a loud mum and her cow, and you have the story of Jack And The Beanstalk.

However, the pantomime is not the only tale of Jack. Plenty more pop up across Europe and America; so York playwright Mike Kenny has written a version for three-year-olds and upwards that emphasises how Jack takes on the giant with resourcefulness rather than brute strength: a message for today's war-mongering leaders.

Kenny was drawn to the "nicest of the Jack stories" that found their way to the Appalachian Mountains, and this is reflected in Jack's attire of denim dungarees and the jaunty mountain songs of Ivan Stott, who yet again takes a York show to greater heights.

Alison Heffernan's set design combines an American Western wooden shack with storybook bold colours, and Wendy Harris's exuberant cast similarly fuses differing cultures and accents. Paul Curley's Jack is as Irish as a leprechaun; Simon Kerrigan's giant Garbold borrows from the pirate dressing-up box; Sarah Goddard's giantess Gertrude and equally long-suffering Jack's Mum could have stepped out of any number of Roald Dahl shows.

The story is familiar, yet Kenny's script is delightfully fresh, especially in an ending that will surprise everyone with its twist. Rather than the frenetic, E-number thrills and slapstick of pantomime, director Harris guides the show over 50 steadily-paced minutes built, on bright storytelling, gentle rather than raucous humour and puppetry.

Tutti Frutti have played a winning hand by forging links with Holmfirth's international puppet company Faulty Optic. Curley is seldom parted from a puppet version of Jack, who is first seen as a meal-in-waiting in the giant's kitchen and then tells his tale in sometimes cheeky, sometimes poignant flashback.

The sight of puppet Jack balancing like a trapeze artist as he clambers to the top of a beanstalk made from a washing line of leaves is particularly memorable. Add a shot or two of grown-up humour to the magical puppetry, thunderous clog dancing and rousing drama and, just like the giant's hen, Tutti Frutti have lain a golden egg with this witty, warm fairytale.

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