Preview: Christmas theatre

Pictured above: Sleeping Beauty, Bristol Old Vic. Pic: Steve Tanner

From gravity-free princesses to explorations of the West Country’s rich storytelling tradition, here’s Bristol24/7’s roundup of this year’s impressive festive theatre offerings 

The Light Princess
to Jan 10, Factory Theatre: tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Our pick of this year’s festive theatre gems begins… in mid-air. Tobacco Factory Theatres kick us off with an irresistible-looking collaboration between, among others, vintage comedy/physical theatre troupe Peepolykus and Bristol’s amazing musical performer Verity Standen.
The Light Princess draws on George MacDonald’s fairy tale about a girl who has no gravity. The show will see the Factory Theatre transformed into a theatrical playground, using the entire space to create an immersive, intricate traditional fairytale world – think castle turrets, green grass and fluffy clouds.
“Crucial to the story is the ability for the princess to both fly and swim,” explains director John Nicholson. “Her world is quite often completely upside down. There’s fun to be had with the set and costumes as her traditional fairytale world descends into chaos. But the fun really begins when our princess discovers that when she swims, her gravity returns.”

Kid Carpet’s Noisy Nativity
Dec 2-Jan 3, Brewery Theatre: tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Just down the road at the Brewery Theatre, Bristol’s favourite toy-toting musician-turned-kids’ theatre maestro Kid Carpet unveils his latest high-octane muso-theatrical romp. Kid Carpet’s Noisy Nativity sees our multi-instrumentalist hero putting on the local Nativity show – but no one has turned up to audition. Never fear: The Noisy Animals are practising next door and offer to help out. What could possibly go wrong?

A Christmas Carol
Dec 8-Jan 3, Brewery Theatre: tobaccofactorytheatres.com
Last but not least in a trilogy of festive fun from Tobacco Factory Theatres is a return for the brilliant comic duo Living Spit, they of the hilarious Adolf and Winston and The Six Wives of Henry VIII. This time the duo are migrating from history to classic literature with their own typically slapstick rendition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Howard ‘Henry VIII’ Coggins prepares to give the performance of his career as mean-spirited miserablist Ebenezer Scrooge, while Stu ‘Anne Boleyn’ Mcloughlin gets to practise his ghost noises and wear some outrageous Christmas jumpers. Expect music, pathos, tears and laughter galore. Ages 16+.

Sleeping Beauty
to Jan 17, Bristol Old Vic: bristololdvic.org.uk
Up in the main house, BOV’s Sleeping Beauty will differ crucially from other versions of this classic tale you may have seen. Based on the story and also inspired by the Welsh folk take The Leaves That Hung But Never Grew, BOV’s tale centres on a much-loved prince who is cursed sleep for 100 years. Elsewhere, a girl sets off into the forest on a quest to save everything she holds dear. Worlds collide when the girl happens upon the sleeping prince and accidentally wakes him. Not exactly true love’s first kiss – but the pair are thrown together on a hilarious adventure of magic and mayhem.
This one comes from the reliably brilliant lineup of director Sally Cookson, musician Benji Bower, dramaturg Adam Peck and others, who’ve previously brought you the likes of Peter Pan, Treasure Island and The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Read our review here.
 

Snow White
Dec 5-Jan 3, Hippodrome: atgtickets.com/venues/bristol-hippodrome
The Hippodrome’s 2015 Christmas panto follows the beautiful Snow White and her seven dwarf companions as they attempt to defeat the Wicked Queen. The cast includes CBeebies’ Andy Day, Warwick Davis (Willow, Life’s Too Short) and comedian and panto fave Andy Ford – not to mention Bristol’s favourite ovine adventurer, Shaun the Sheep.
Expect, in true Hippodrome fashion, all yer traditional panto ingredients writ large: sensational songs, sparkling costumes, a live band, dazzling dance routines, hilarious slapstick comedy and bags of audience participation.

Circus Geeks do Christmas
Dec 19-22, The Lansdown pub: circusgeeks.co.uk/christmas 
Those in search of more physical thrills and spills should book early for this three-man festive circus show, staged in a cosy room above Clifton’s Lansdown pub. Following a critically acclaimed national tour and four-week run at the Udderbelly Festival on London’s Southbank, juggling and circus trio Arron Sparks, Jon Udry and Bristol’s Matt Pang promise an evening of deft circus theatre and physical comedy. Just 50 seats per show: book soon.

Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears
Dec 1-Jan 17, Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market: thewardrobetheatre.com
We’ve told you elsewhere about the opening of the Wardrobe Theatre’s new home on West Street, Old Market – and how it all kicks off for them with another of their unique Xmas shows.
We’re promised a “madcap merging of the classic porridge-thieving fairytale with Guy Ritchie’s cult 1998 cockney caper”. The silver-tongued Goldilocks can see that her days of selling moody goods on the cobbled streets of East End London are numbered. But when circumstances leave her on the run from a pack of bears and badly indebted to a notorious gangster, will our young heroine be able to raise the needed ‘bees and honey’ in time and avoid doing porridge?

The Melody Makers (pictured top)
Dec 7-20, Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market: thewardrobetheatre.com
A few days later, the Wardrobe opens its second Xmas show. Tessa Bide’s enchanting family show follows a little girl who – unlike her Chrimbo-crazy family – can’t abide the festive season. Pip’s only saving grace is her best friend, Rupert – a tiny robin who visits her every morning for the month of December. One morning, Rupert stops singing and Pip must go on a quest to find out why the music has stopped! She must find the Melody Makers and, boy, they’re not happy.
With four talented actor-musicians, beautiful hand-made puppets (made by Sarah Dicks, puppetry assistant on The Lion King) and plenty of live music, we’re promised a magical, musical extravaganza set to charm the stockings off audiences aged seven to 107. 

The Wind in the Willows
to Dec 17, Redgrave Theatre: www.oldvic.ac.uk
The annual Christmas show from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – in which the school’s graduating thespians, stage designers, wardrobe assistants et al all put their considerable talents on display – is always a family-friendly delight: beautifully performed and staged, with a real sense of energy and ensemble. Combine all this theatrical flair with one of the most beautiful tales ever written for younger audiences, and you’ve got a bankable festive highlight. The brilliant Ed Viney directs.
Read our review here.

Neither There Nor Here
Dec 8-Jan 6, various venues: finechisel.co.uk
Last but not least, we’re taking you out beyond the city limits. Award-winning Bristol-based theatre company and folk band Fine Chisel return this month with a brand new theatrical adventure for all ages, playing in pubs, village halls and pop-up theatres Bristol, Bath and North Somerset.
Bursting with the live foot-stomping music, Neither There Nor Here is a playful piece of theatre – inspired by our region’s folklore – about the search for a place to call home. Settling by the fire, three travellers recount their journey so far. We follow the unlikely trio across violent seas and frosty moors, through ancient forests and giant gorges, as they bring their adventure to life. Out of their rucksacks come an array of instruments, and the travellers’ story erupts into song.
All are welcome, with both daytime and evening performances – with a winter supper served at many venues, and the band playing into the night. An alternative but, we fancy very rewarding, way to celebrate a festival that, after all, has some of its origins in mediaeval banqueting halls.

For full December theatre listings, visit b247.staging.proword.press/theatre