Jack and the Beanstalk

Synopsis

Scene 1 – Little Beanfield

Fairy Sprout teaches the audience to say "Ting!" and Sir Grimsby Grabbit stomps on to boos. It's nearly Christmas, and Sir Grimsby, the Giant's rent collector, demands fifty gold coins from Dame Dotty Trott by Christmas Eve, or he'll take her cottage and her cow. With empty pockets, the family decide Jack must sell Daisy at market.

Scene 2 – The Road to Market

Sir Grimsby tries to buy Daisy for one penny ("Oh yes I will!" "Oh no you won't!"). Then a mysterious old Pedlar – Fairy Sprout in disguise – offers five magic beans for her and promises Daisy will be home for Christmas. Jack makes the swap.

Scene 3 – Dame Trott's Kitchen

Dame Trott and Silly Sid make the Christmas pudding, with disastrous results. The Dame flings the beans out of the window, but overnight the Magic Beans dance and grow into a beanstalk that reaches the clouds. Jack, Mum and Sid set off to climb it.

Scene 4 – The Giant's Castle

Kind Mrs Blunderbore warns them her husband eats boys on toast. They meet Henrietta the hen and Harmony the harp. "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" The audience shouts "He's behind you!", and Jack outwits the Giant with a game of "Giant Says". Everyone escapes down the beanstalk.

Scene 5 – Back in Little Beanfield

The Dame chops down the beanstalk with an enormous pair of garden shears. Sir Grimsby lands in the pudding bowl and confesses he's been keeping half the village's gold. Henrietta's golden eggs pay everyone back, Daisy comes home, and the grumpy Giant cheers up when Jack promises to send him a Christmas pudding.

Scene 6 – Songsheet and Finale

Sid and the Dame lead the audience in the songsheet, with one half of the hall competing against the other, before the whole cast walks down for bows and sings "We Wish You a Beanstalk Christmas".

Themes & Curriculum Links

PSHE

Families and people who care for me; fairness and honesty; making simple choices and thinking about consequences, from swapping the cow to telling the truth.

English

Becoming very familiar with traditional tales and joining in with predictable phrases ("Fee-fi-fo-fum!"); spoken language and performance; writing a "Wanted" poster for Sir Grimsby or a thank-you letter from the Giant.

Music

Using voices expressively, call-and-response, and untuned percussion for the growing beanstalk and the Giant's footsteps.

Science, drama & dance

Year 2 plants: grow your own beanstalk and keep a bean diary. Movement and gesture to show character, simple group dances and stage awareness.

Characters

• Jack Trott (hero) – Kind, a bit of a dreamer and braver than he looks. He uses his head when he's in trouble.
• Dame Dotty Trott – Jack's mum and the comic lead: loud, loving and vain about her terrible outfits. Play her as big as a house.
• Silly Sid – Jack's brother, who gets everything a little bit wrong and gets the audience shouting "Hiya, Sid!".
• Daisy the Cow – A two-person pantomime cow and the best dancer in the village. Non-speaking (apart from "Moo").
• Sir Grimsby Grabbit – The villain. He always enters stage left and loves being booed.
• Fairy Sprout – The good fairy of the vegetable patch, who speaks in rhyme and disguises herself as the Pedlar.
• Giant Blunderbore & Mrs Blunderbore – A huge, grumpy Giant who just wants to be invited somewhere at Christmas, and his kind, flustered wife.
• Henrietta, Harmony, Narrators, Villagers & Traders – Smaller parts that are lovely for less confident speakers, plus Magic Beans, Clouds and Villagers chorus groups of any size.

The casting guide shows how to cast the play for 20, 25 or 30+ children, with line and word counts for every role. Villagers, Magic Beans and Clouds are chorus groups that can be as big as you like, and the guide shows which parts double.