It's the season to gather for a giggle and savour a large helping of stage magic. Three cheers then for new plays aimed squarely at families, traditional tales to capture the attention of the very young and the enduring power of panto.
Fairytale fancies
Advertisement
The cardinal rule of any festive show is 'thou shall not bore', as our entertainment correspondent Brenda Emmanus discovers
More than just any old Cinders, this is dance guru Matthew Bourne's fully revised version of his 1997 production based on Prokofiev's score in which our harried heroine is transposed to World War II, where she meets her prince - a dashing RAF pilot. Under 5s admitted.
London's purpose-built children's theatre hosts a new version of the story of the mismatched pair, with magic and music written by Phil Porter. Families can attend a 90-minute workshop, see the production and meet members of the cast on selected dates in January. For ages 7+.
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street SE1 2HZ. 020 7645 0560. £19, £13 concs. To 23 January.
Classic tales
A young boy's snowman comes to life on Christmas Eve in the Peacock Theatre's enduring classic
Christmas without this stage show based on Raymond Briggs's delightful picture book is almost inconceivable; its combination of storytelling, music and dance - with the atmospheric Walking In The Air performed by a live orchestra - continues to enthral year after year. For ages 2+.
Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Holborn WC2. 0844 412 4322. £12 - £32. To 9 January.
Dickens's festive favourite chills and cheers in this adaptation by Joanna Volinska, with original music by Carole Carpenter and Jonathan Langford. First seen in London five years ago, it concentrates on the darker aspects of the story and keeps faith with the original novella apart from the use of Tiny Tim as storyteller. For ages 6+.
The Royal Court's first ever family Christmas show is written by Anthony Neilson, more usually identified with visceral, take-no-prisoners theatrical fare, and follows 10-year-old Holly in her quest to trap Santa in order to find the perfect family, featuring songs, talking animals, magic beards and a step dad who is actually a dog. For ages 7+.
Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS. 020 7565 5000. £8 - £25. To 15 January.
Panto possibilities
There's nothing like a Dame... Shaun Prendergast is Sarah the Cook in the Lyric Hammersmith's Dick Whittington
Former EastEnders actor Paul J Medford plays Cat to Steven Webb's Dick in the Lyric's colourful follow-up to last year's Jack and the Beanstalk. Steve Marmion's production has live music, a great Dame in Shaun Prendergast's Sarah the Cook and the voices of Stephen Fry and Alan Davies as Bow and Bells, respectively. Geddit? For ages 6+.
Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, King Street W6 0QL. 0871 22 117 29. £10 - £25. To 8 January.
Neverland was never so camp as in this Wimbledon production, which brings out the big guns to mark the theatre's 100th birthday and echo the starry casting that was the hallmark of last year's Aladdin. With Baywatch icon David Hasselhoff alternating the role of Captain Hook with chat show host Jerry Springer alongside Louie Spence's cabin boy, Roger, you can almost hear the jokes writing themselves. For ages 6+.
New Wimbledon Theatre, 93 The Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1QG. 0844 871 7646. £17.50 - £32.50. To 16 January.
Hackney's annual panto is one of London's great institutions: a marriage between mustard-keen local talent and Clive Rowe's charismatic Dame under the auspices of writer-director Susie McKenna. This year's offering has a singing harp, a golden hen, the giant of all giants and Buttercup, the break dancing cow. For ages 4+.
Hackney Empire, 291 Mare Street E8 1EJ. 020 8985 2424. £9.50 - £24.50. To 9 January.
Trish Cooke and Robert Hyman, the team behind last year's Aladdin, join forces again to venture into the deep, dark woods. Derek Elroy, fast becoming a panto veteran, is Grannie, with Chloe Allen as Red and Michael Bertenshaw as Lupinus Wolf... look out, he's behind you! For ages 4+.
Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford E15 1BN. 020 8534 0310. To 22 January.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~50~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
What are these?