Alice Frecheville sits down with the writers of CUADC/Footlights Pantomime 2025: Jack and the Beanstalk, Flora Maxwell and Martha Alexander.
Writing the biggest show of the year is undoubtedly a fantastic challenge for talented student writers. Footlights Martha and Flora sat down with Alice Frecheville to discuss the process behind the magic.
How did you meet?
Flora tells me she first met fellow Footlight and now writing partner Martha during a sketch show way back last Michaelmas, and decided to pitch to write the 2025 Panto after reuniting on Footlights Presents: WANTED. Both claim it was the other's idea, but clearly they’ve had much fun, and have successfully bounced off each other’s different creative influences.
Why Jack and the Beanstalk?
Flora says she was very inspired by a fantastic version that she saw at the Palladium. They also both wanted to have a male protagonist - “they’re more fun to laugh at because you can make them naive and a little bit dull very easily!” Surprisingly, Jack and the Beanstalk hasn’t been done at the ADC for 20 years, leaving Flora and Martha with the perfect opportunity to explore the world of bean puns.
Both writers are fans of classic British comedies and sketch shows like the Thick of It, Black Books, and Mitchell and Webb, with Martha stating she was strongly inspired by the naturalistic and very defined sense of characters in creating comedy. Flora states that Miranda is very much a large influence too, with its slapstick and audience interaction being central aspects of panto.
What's this I hear about Claudia Winkleman?
Flora explains that she was watching Traitors during pitching, and it was the most camp and relevant pop culture reference at the time. Whilst Martha admits she isn’t terribly into using pop culture as a creative influence, it was central to Flora’s vision. Both emphasise a very significant part of their vision was making sure that their panto didn’t rely on very niche comedic references.
What were the challenges of bringing this script together?
Both agreed that the most challenging aspects of writing panto were ensuring it would appeal to a really broad demographic, and writing alone over the summer. However, they were supported by their fantastic script editing team, who made it a priority to ensure a range of voices were included in the script development process, and overall, make sure it’s funny!
So what can the audience look forward to?
When asked what unexpected things the audience can watch out for, the duo teased a Giant redemption arc! Alongside this, you should expect plenty of puns, wordplay, and some rhyme… they are both English students after all.
CUADC/Footlights Pantomime 2025: Jack and the Beanstalk
by Martha Alexander and Flora Maxwell
Wed 26 November - Sat 06 December 2025
ADC Theatre
Click here to book your tickets!
Photography by Thomas Holland