Miriam Margolyes makes her panto debut as the voice of the Giant in Poole

National treasure Miriam Margolyes is to make her pantomime debut this Christmas. She will be the voice of the Giant Blunderbore in Jack and the Beanstalk at Lighthouse Poole, which runs from Thursday 10 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. Her performance is recorded in advance, so audiences will hear her rather than see her: she will not appear on stage in person. Tickets are on sale now.

A national treasure's first panto

Margolyes has worked as a character actor across film, television and stage for more than 50 years, and won international fame as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. In all that time she has never been in a pantomime, until now, even though panto is where her love of theatre began.

“I love panto,” says Miriam. “Panto was my first experience of theatre; that’s how I became interested in it. I think it’s very important to take kids to see shows.”

Will Miriam Margolyes appear on stage?

No. Her performance is recorded in advance and she will not appear in person. Her voice brings the friendly, cheese eating Giant to life, while the rest of the cast perform live.

A giant with a soft side

Do not expect a fearsome monster at the top of the beanstalk. Margolyes sees her Giant as rather put upon, and hopes audiences will end up on his side:

“I like the idea of having a giant who was rather put upon and not really an evil giant. I hope that, in the end, you’ll rather love the giant, because he’s not a bad giant. He’s just had a hard life, and he’s very greedy. And, you know, I’m rather greedy too!”

Her fee goes to the Christmas Appeal

Margolyes has donated her fee to the Lighthouse annual Christmas Appeal, which will help more children see the panto in Poole this year.

Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain said: “We are so happy that one of our foremost stage and screen actors agreed to be part of our panto this year.” She added: “It’s a giant of a role that will be made even more so by an actor of Miriam’s stature. We can’t wait to see how our audiences react.”

The rest of the cast

The company is led by children's television favourite Chris Jarvis as Dame Trott, with Sarah-Louise Young as the baddie Fleshcreep and Bernadette Bangura, a rising star of music theatre, as Fairy Sunshine.

Young's credits include An Evening Without Kate Bush, and Bangura has appeared in the UK tour of Waitress. The poster also bills Keiran Morris, who was in last year's Dick Whittington at Lighthouse, Sienna Sofia Glackin, from BBC Scotland's River City, and Robert Rees, from The Mousetrap in the West End.

Who wrote and directed the show?

Chris Jarvis writes and directs, as well as playing the Dame. He is joined by choreographer Daniel Donaldson Todd, production designer James Smith and musical director Adam Tuffrey.

Made in Poole

Jack and the Beanstalk is made in Poole especially for Lighthouse audiences, and it is the latest in a run of hit pantomimes there. Last year's Dick Whittington was nominated for Best Pantomime at the national Pantomime Awards and earned four stars from The Stage, while earlier hits include the Panto Award winners Aladdin and Cinderella.

Lighthouse opened in 1978 as Poole Arts Centre and is now one of the largest arts venues outside London, with four auditoria, a cinema and galleries under one roof.

When is it on?

From Thursday 10 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, at various times. It is billed as a family pantomime.

Dates, times and seats are on the Lighthouse Poole website. For more festive shows around the country, see our guide to the best pantomimes in the UK for 2026, or read Chris Jarvis on playing the Dame in an earlier Lighthouse panto.