Clive Rowe directs the Hackney Empire pantomime and plays its Dame, and Jack and the Beanstalk will carry the theatre through its 125th birthday this December. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
Pantomime at the Hackney Empire is less an annual event than a local institution, and this year it arrives with an anniversary attached. Jack and the Beanstalk runs at the Hackney Empire from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 31 December 2026, taking the theatre through its 125th birthday in December. That Clive Rowe both directs it and plays the Dame says a good deal about how seriously the house takes the form.
Who is starring in Jack and the Beanstalk?
Rowe plays Dame Trot, with Kat B beside him as Simple Simon Trot in what is his 21st pantomime at the theatre. Marina Lawrence-Mahrra is Jack Trot and Summer Priest plays Jill. Louise Cielecki is Fairy Firethorn, Christopher Staines takes the villain's part as Stephen Fleshcreep, and Andre Antonio doubles as Harp and Timothy Trot.
Lawrence-Mahrra has toured in Frankie Goes To Bollywood and appeared in Come Fall in Love at Manchester Opera House. Priest arrives from the UK and world tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Staines was in The Score at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, and Antonio's credits include Romeo and Juliet at the Hackney Empire. The ensemble is Ellie Greenway, Alanna Panditaratne, Charlize Indigo, who makes a professional debut, Charlie Scales, Toby Seddon, Lara Wollington and Sam Jamison. The theatre has also promised a few familiar faces joining along the way as the anniversary approaches.
Spotlight on Clive Rowe
No performer is more closely tied to this stage. Rowe has been playing Dames at the Hackney Empire for more than 25 years, long enough that for a generation of east London families the Dame and Clive Rowe are much the same thing. He has directed here as well: last year's Cinderella earned him a Best Director nomination at the UK Pantomime Awards. Away from Hackney, West End audiences have seen him more recently in Hadestown. Doing both jobs at once is a particular test. The Dame is the engine of a pantomime, carrying the audience participation, the costume changes and most of the comic business, while a director has to keep the whole evening in proportion, and Rowe will be judging the second from inside the first. He calls the Hackney panto "always the highlight of my year", and the length of the association suggests the house feels much the same about him. Jack and the Beanstalk is booking now.
What is Jack and the Beanstalk about?
Jack Trot is sent to market to sell the family cow and comes home with a handful of beans instead. Overnight they grow into a beanstalk that climbs above the clouds, and up there lives a giant whose henchman, Stephen Fleshcreep, has designs on Hackney. Jack climbs, and what he finds at the top decides whether the Trots get to keep their home.
The rest is the full pantomime apparatus, and none the worse for it: a Dame in a succession of outrageous frocks, a villain to boo, a fairy to cheer, songs, slapstick and a good deal of shouting from the stalls. Rowe has promised the things Hackney audiences come for, from big laughs and live music to festive magic, and the theatre has hinted at surprises to mark its birthday.
Who is behind the production?
Rowe directs, from a script by Will Brenton with original music and songs by Steven Edis. Wendy Gadian is musical director, arranger, orchestrator and supervisor. Cleo Pettitt designs the set and costumes, Mike Ward choreographs, Tim Mitchell lights the show with Jake Lawrence as associate, and Richard Bell designs the sound.
Sades Robinson-Craft is costume supervisor, Clare Packham assistant director and Rosamunde Hutt casting associate. Emily Obasohan produces, and production management is by Tom Kingdon for Production Solutions Group.
When and where can I see it?
Jack and the Beanstalk runs at the Hackney Empire on Mare Street, E8, from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 31 December 2026, with the press performance on Thursday 3 December. The show is suitable for all ages, and children under three may sit on an adult's lap. Tickets currently start at £12 on our Jack and the Beanstalk page.
What else should I book if I like it?
- Cinderella is the Lyric Hammersmith's pantomime this year; the earliest performances have sold out, and tickets are available from Thursday 19 November 2026.
- Potted Panto squeezes a whole shelf of pantomimes into one evening, at the Apollo Theatre from Sunday 6 December 2026.
- Room On The Broom puts Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's picture book on stage for ages three and up, at the Lyric Theatre from Friday 27 November 2026.
- Peppa Pig's Big Family Show! is the pick for the youngest members of the family, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from Friday 4 December 2026.
