By Maria Bligh
Sitting among a sea of children, I wondered why I hadn’t realized an afternoon performance of The Snowman was likely to attract an audience featuring a high proportion of little people.
Whenever I think of going to see a ballet at Sadler’s Wells, I imagine a classy outing where we’re surrounded by champagne-quaffing punters each only a few steps removed from royalty. Well, this was Sadler’s Wells, but not as we know it. We were here to kick-start our Christmas with the Birmingham Rep’s production of The Snowman, based on the popular book by Raymond Briggs.
Hub and I arrived at The Peacock theatre near The Strand in good time after walking from St Pancras station. It’s a decent distance, so we felt quite smug as we climbed the two flights of stairs to the stalls. There’s a lift for anyone who can’t manage the stairs and this was in use by several grandparents.
Unlike some theatres, the auditorium in The Peacock is painted black so all attention rightly focuses on the stage. Even when we took our seats, the lighting projected onto the stage screen was riveting, very cleverly giving the impression of falling snow.
Down in the orchestra pit were just a few of the day’s musicians warming up including a flutist, so the anticipation of hearing the distinctive strains of “Walking In The Air” was already building.
Right on time, the show began with the lights revealing an exquisite set. A little boy could be seen sleeping in his bedroom in scenery showing a cutaway house that enabled us to view upstairs, downstairs, inside, and out. It was remarkable and I have to say the sets just kept getting better as the show progressed.
They were stunning in their simplicity and yet had the real wow factor. Additionally, set changes happened so quickly and seamlessly that they must have had an army of elves and fairies on hand backstage. Kudos to the set designers and the backstage hands.
The first half of the play set the scene of a snowy landscape and Raphael Korniets perfectly mimed an excited boy playing in the snow, throwing snowballs, and building a snowman. Aaaah yes, the snowman, or should I say Snowman?
I found said Snowman, today played by Óscar Fonesca, more frightening than Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s IT, but evidently, none of the children in the audience had any reservations. They all loved him, laughing at his antics and recognizing him as the hero of the piece.
I’ll just break off for a moment to say that as impressive as the stage action was, here in the audience there was also much to be admired. Without exception, the children were utterly captivated throughout.
Some were very young so 45 minutes is a long time for them to remain attentive, but they were. They were engaged, followed the story, and got involved throughout, laughing, booing, and gasping in all the right places. This is surely a testament to the quality of the production so I certainly cannot fault it as a show to enchant children.
The 20-minute interval involved the inevitable queues for the Ladies (how come never the Gents?!), exacerbated by the number of Mothers taking daughters AND sons with them.
The line moved pretty quickly, though, as there are plenty of cubicles and the children remained well-behaved and patient so before we knew it we were back in our seats for the 45 minutes second half.
Peacock theatre London
Throughout the show, the lighting was used to excellent effect so I must mention lighting designer Tim Mitchell. Another effect that had the entire audience ooohing and aaahing were when the boy and the Snowmen began “walking in the air.” Since we couldn’t see any wires, I’m convinced it was done with real magic and I know every child in the auditorium believed, at that moment, that a boy could fly. I’m also certain they all wished they were in his place.
The airborne antics were made possible by Flying By Foy Ltd which clearly specializes in this. I guess you could hire them for your own Christmas party and fly yourself in!
There was a surreal scene involving a dancing coconut (loved the fringed costume), a pineapple, and a banana. Was it just an excuse to use the costumes that had been hanging around unused in the prop room?
I’m not sure it added much but, again, the children were awestruck, so I guess it was a good call. The fruits’ enthusiastic leaps back into the fridge were fun.
For my own part, I would have liked to see more dancing throughout. There wasn’t a great deal in the first half and I thought the Snowman meeting the cat would have offered a great opportunity to feature a cat ballet choreographed around graceful, feline movements.
The show features several other animals – rabbit, fox, squirrel, badger, and a couple of penguins. It’s difficult to perform ballet when you’re bundled into a furry costume and, I’m sure, equally challenging to construct suitable dance moves so praise must go to choreographer, Robert North, and his team. However, the reindeer costumes were designed such that the dancers were able to move freely and I very much enjoyed their upbeat ballet. The dance moves conveyed the leaping gaits of deer and the dancers were perfectly synchronized at all times.
The reindeer had been pulling Santa’s sleigh and the appearance of the bearded one created great excitement in the young audience, considering ramping up their “Christmas is coming” dial.
We were treated to what I like to term “proper ballet’ when the ballerina from the top of the music box, today played by Samantha Rodulfo, danced en pointe. Then Jack Frost, played by Ryan Upton, appeared in the obligatory tights that also allowed free movement and some spectacular leaps.
These two gave beautiful performances, offering something for true ballet lovers whilst continuing to satisfy the children with their elaborate, glittering costumes and fairy-tale characters.
Overall, if you have children, take them to see The Snowman. They’ll come out believing snowmen come to life and children can fly. That’s the magic created by the Birmingham Rep.
The Snowman is on at Sadler’s Wells in Holborn, Peacock Theatre, until 31 December 2022.
