Stafford Gatehouse Theatre's pantomime has set a new record for the theatre, with almost 19,000 people seeing Jack and The Beanstalk over the festive period.

The venue, operated by Freedom Leisure on behalf of Stafford Borough Council, produced the spectacular show in partnership with Imagine Theatre, one of the country’s top theatrical production companies.

The run was extended by a week and ended on Sunday 5 January, after many performances sold out, and also produced the highest receipts for any show since the Gatehouse opened in 1982.

Critics and audiences alike poured praise on the pantomime, which starred CBBC legend Mark Rhodes, The Sooty Show’s Wink Taylor and award-winning dame, David Phipps-Davis.

Industry bible The Stage called it ‘a brilliant example of what a small-town provincial theatre can achieve’ and locally BBC Radio Stoke described it as ‘absolutely fantastic’.

Both the BBC TV and ITV Midlands news networks visited the theatre and broadcast segments on their evening bulletins – including a great piece about what it’s like as the back end of a pantomime cow.

More than 1,000 tickets have already been booked for Sleeping Beauty next Christmas with a waiting list for school performances.

In addition, the theatre sold more than 21,000 ice creams, packets of sweets and drinks over the run, as well as hundreds of souvenir programmes.

There were also more than 100,000 social media interactions across Facebook, X and Instagram.

Gatehouse General Manager Gary Stevens said: "We were absolutely blown away by the response to Jack and The Beanstalk, both in the numbers of people who attended and the audience reaction – people absolutely loved it.

Two years ago, Cinderella attracted 16,000 people, so to hit around 19,000 this Christmas is tremendous growth and just goes to show how much people love a traditional family pantomime right on their doorstep.

It’s a great boost for the town centre economy too, as evidence shows that for every £1.00 spent at the theatre, another £1.40 is taken by local pubs, shops and restaurants.

And it really helps put Stafford on the map; we’ve had coverage from TV, radio and all sorts of press, as well as dozens of online bloggers and influencers. We even had people come to see the show from the USA!

We’d like to thank everyone who came along, as well as all the people who supported the show, and of course our hard-working staff and brilliant army of volunteers – we couldn’t do it without them. Let’s do it all again next Christmas!"

Tickets are already on sale for Sleeping Beauty, which runs from 5 December - 4 January, from the Box Office on 01785 619080 or gatehousetheatre.co.uk.