OC LIVE : CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Jack Counts on His Stalk Characters : Paper Bag Players’ Version Lets Audience Lend a Hand

Some famous fairy tale characters didn’t achieve stardomalone. They had personal advisers or confidantes--Pinocchio had Jiminy Cricket, Cinderella had a fairy godmother and Wilbur had Charlotte--to help them deal with life’s little quandaries. But what about poor Jack?

In the Paper Bag Players’ staging of “Jack and the Beanstalk (A Clown’s Play),” the only guidance that lad gets is from a gender-confused cow and an audience full of kids who spend as much time laughing and whooping it up as they do helping Jack consider his weighty choices.

However, that’s probably just what director Bunny Lawson had in mind when she staged this show, which closes Sunday at the Rancho Canada School.

This troupe of local adult actors is best known for putting viewers square in the middle of a story, whether they’re shouting out ideas to the players, creating sound effects or joining the ensemble on stage.

To get them in the mood, Lawson invites youngsters into the house 30 minutes before show time to eat lunch and chat with the performers while watching them put on their makeup.

The formula still works well, judging from the crowd’s response.

At a recent performance, the audience of mostly preschool and early elementary-school children (many sporting clown makeup like the actors’) cheerfully clapped, cheered, stomped and mooed on demand, so much so that the actors had to pause occasionally to let the crowd chill out.

(In fact, in the interest of more cohesive storytelling, Lawson might do well to trim the length of some of these audience-participation segments. Engaging as it may be to the kids involved, the hubbub gets to be distracting to other viewers.)

A few flubbed lines and missed cues notwithstanding, the cast took the confusion in stride, delivering an hour of interactive theater that mostly kept the little ones on the edge of their seats (or out of them, as the case may be).

Reginald F. Bain’s script presents the familiar story as a show within a show.

Ostensibly, the fairy tale is to be told by another troupe, but when they don’t show, the opening clown act divvies up the roles, grabs some makeshift props and fills in. Clowns being clowns, they throw in some classic Three Stooges head-bonking and nose-tweaking, which prompt more happy screeches from the kids.

With the exception of Jim Lawson’s delightfully deadpan turn as Bessie the cow, the rest of the cast plays it large.

Paul Smet, a mountain of a man with a basso profundo voice, is perfectly cast as the Giant; when this guy lets loose with a fee-fie-fo-fum, chandeliers must rattle all the way into Irvine. Anne Jackson is endearing and slyly funny as the Giant’s wife who wants the big lout to retire; watch for an amusing twist in their story at the end of the play.

Joshua C. Taylor is an earnest Jack, but he’s best when he’s doing physical comedy. His jittery trip home from the circus is a high point.

Derek Paulus’ lighting is rudimentary, and Bunny and Jim Lawson’s settings are Spartan, but Ronnie Husson and Bunny Lawson’s costumes--a mixed bag of colorful baggy pants, oversized shoes and wacky hats--are ideal for the business at hand.

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Jim Cline: Boffo

Lori Barnes: Mustard

Aimee Surette: Trinket

Anne Jackson: Ruffina (Giant’s Wife)

Paul Smet: Musculo (The Giant)

Jim Lawson: Doxy (The Cow)

Marilyn Foracker: Moxy (Jack’s Mom)

Joshua C. Taylor: Scrappy (Jack)

A Paper Bag Players production of a play by Reginald F. Bain, directed by Bunny Lawson. Scenic design: Bunny and Jim Lawson. Costumes: Ronnie Husson and Bunny Lawson. Lighting: Derek Paulus. Stage manager: Jeanne Martinez. Running time: One hour.

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* What: “Jack and the Beanstalk (A Clown’s Play).”

* When: Saturday and Sunday. Lunch starts at noon, the performance at 12:30.

* Where: The Rancho Canada School, 21801 Winding Way, Lake Forest.

* Whereabouts: From Interstate 5, exit at Lake Forest Drive and travel east. Turn left at Serrano, then take a quick left onto Winding Way.

* Wherewithal: $5, but bring your own lunch.

* Where to call: (714) 581-5402.