THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. To 4 January.

London.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Adam Bampton-Smith lyrics by Guy Picot.

artsdepot 5 Nether Street Tally Ho Corner North Finchley N12 0GA To 4 January 2009.
12pm & 3pm.
Runs 1hr 20min One interval.

TICKETS: 020 8369 5454.
www.artsdepot.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 26 December.

A nice show for the young – which is also its limitation.
This year North Finchley’s artsdepot has changed its usual, main-theatre Christmas production for this piece designed for 3-7s in the spacious intimacy of its studio space. That’s fine; it’s their ‘turn’ in a sense and the play’s well-adjusted to the age-range, isn’t too long, and features a mouse called Eddie, and a cat heard only as a voice-over alongside a huge face looming over Eddie with clearly carnivorous intentions as it sways in space.

The limitation is that, while perfectly decent in its way, The Night Before Christmas is not very ambitious. Though the young boy next to me answered the post-show parental question, “Was it good?” with “It wasn’t good; it was brilliant.” There again, people seemed to be enjoying their ice-creams in the interval too, and the best young people’s theatre offers more than simply simple enjoyment..

Neat ideas include a huge book backing the acting area, its pages turned as characters move through rooms in the family house. And two scales are simultaneously present on stage, with huge books towering behind Eddie, replicated life-size behind young Emily’s bed. Similarly a bangle featuring in the story exists on both mouse and human scales.

But the material’s thin and, as producing company Big Wooden Horse declare, “young people deserve the highest quality of writing, performance and production that a professional theatre company can offer”. True, of course – and I suppose they don’t actually claim to be offering that, but there’s such a thing as implication. They’d hardly go on to say, “But we ask our audiences to settle for some way below that level.” And there’s no way this decent but simple show comes near the work of Travelling Light, Theatre Centre or Fevered Sleep, to name but three.

With pre-recorded music, and only Luanna Priestman’s Eddie showing real dance flair, attention’s thrown onto the vapid dialogue, which essentially makes the somewhat obvious point that Christmas is all about sharing and giving. Tinsel gets a mention too, something that sums up the piece’s level, along with an all-shall-have-presents approach that neither stimulates nor challenges, though it might amuse.

Emily/Lizzie: Jayne Dickinson.
Dad/Dymotron: Jonas Cemm.
Eddie: Luanna Priestman.
Cecil’s voice: Steven Pinder.

Director: Juliet Forster/Ed Burnside.
Lighting: Will Evans.
Music productions: Shock Productions.

2009-01-03 11:11:53