Jacked! A Beanstalk Remix

Jacked! A Beanstalk Remix at Coterie Theatre

Jack needs to feed his village, but the farm won't cooperate and his mother can't help him. So he climbs, he steals, and he brings home a goose that lays golden eggs. Victory—except the eggs carry an intoxicating power that doesn't solve hunger so much as replace it with a different kind of craving.

Jacked! A Beanstalk Remix at the Coterie Theatre takes a fairy tale everyone knows and turns it into something sharp and unsettling. Idris Goodwin's play uses hip-hop, poetry and breakbeats to tell a story where the treasure itself becomes the danger. The goose that should save the village threatens to destroy it instead, and the familiar beanstalk adventure becomes a lens for understanding the opioid epidemic and substance abuse. It's not a lesson tacked onto nostalgia—it's a reimagining that makes the old tale do new work.

The 60-minute production is recommended for ages ten and older, which signals both accessibility and seriousness. This isn't escapism. It's a story where solving one problem creates another, where what glitters turns out to need scrutiny, and where a community's survival depends on recognizing the difference between relief and ruin.

Kansas City audiences looking for theater that respects younger viewers while grappling with real stakes will find it here. Get tickets for Goodwin’s sharp, hip-hop-driven fairy-tale remix at The Coterie.