It is nearly Christmas and there is so much work to do and Father Christmas is sad. Will we have to cancel Christmas? Not if your young child can become an elf and help to sort it all out, we won’t!
The show is a two hander, with both the actors taking on roles such as elves, polar bears, annoying neighbours and, of course, Father Christmas. I was very taken by both of them - they created an incredibly warm atmosphere for the children, so much so that my daughter said her favourite part of the play was being greeted by Ella the Elf when we came in. I was extremely impressed by Father Christmas’s acrobatic skill (I was really not expecting him to do a headstand), and the well managed and slick character changes from them both.
The play is peppered with interactive activities, which included letter sorting, singing, dancing and making paper chains. This is obviously great for this age range and made the hour run time very manageable for even the youngest child (mine, as it happened!). These activities felt pleasingly anarchic but were carefully managed by the actors and “elf and safety” (the lighting tech).
The lighting and set design was much more elaborate than I expected, with some delightful attention to detail. The presents, trees and decorations created a real impression of Christmas opulence and wonder when we first came in - my daughter just stared at them, mouth open, for the first two minutes. There were also some simple but genuinely delightful set and lighting effects that I won’t spoil, as I was frankly as delighted by them as my daughter, but trust me when I say that this production has been designed with real magic and love in mind. One of my favourite forms of children’s theatre is low tech but high magic, and Dear Father Christmas was a prime example of this.
If I were to have one criticism, it’s that some of the musical numbers didn’t quite hit, and I would have preferred the actors to play instruments to accompany themselves, and to slow down and simplify one of the songs they taught to the children. This absolutely didn’t ruin the enjoyment of the show - it just seemed a bit of a missed opportunity to sneak a bit more magic and musical education in there.
This is one of the few children’s shows where I really would suggest sticking fairly close to the age limit - my daughter, at 3 years 1 month, was able to understand and enjoy all of it, but even a couple of months ago I think she would have found some of the activities a bit confusing or overwhelming. Similarly, I think there was a year 1 group in, so some of the children will have been 6, and while they were absolutely entranced, I feel that even an eight year old might feel a bit too cool for this. The show appeals directly to the sweetness of early years - eager to help and trusting and completely willing to suspend their disbelief. Because of that, my daughter and I adored it, and I enjoyed seeing the other kids' reactions much more than I was expecting.
The day we went there were two school/nursery groups in, so the ratios of adults to children were about 1:8 - not every child had an adult sitting next to or even near them. I mention this to note that these children were ENTRANCED. They didn’t move or speak other than to engage in the show, and when they did they were just SO excited. There was a moment when Father Christmas couldn’t see a polar bear, in particular, and these kids were beside themselves.
Honestly, I loved this. It was warm and seemed absolutely designed with the things that young children like (sparkly things and kind adults and being helpful and magic) firmly front of mind. I would absolutely recommend this show - especially if you feel, as I do, that your child is a touch too young for a full panto, but you still want to introduce them to some festive theatre. An absolute delight.