The Snowman, Peacock Theatre Review (2024)
The Snowman production image. Photo by The Other Richard
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Raymond Briggs’ 1978 book was adapted into an animation in 1982, immediately winning its place as a Christmas favourite – the story of a magical snowman who comes to life and takes a young boy on an adventure that leads him all the way to the North Pole has delighted children (and adults) ever since.
This stage production, from the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, is now in its 27th year at the Peacock and feels as fresh as a new layer of snow, turning the theatre into a Winter wonderland. With music from a live orchestra, Director Bill Alexander tells the story without any dialogue, letting the music, staging and Robert North’s choreography transport us to this magical world.
The opening sequence sets things up beautifully, as the boy delights in the newly fallen snow and builds his snowman – Teddy Holton-Frances is excellent, clearly conveying the boy’s excitement through his exuberant movement and facial expressions. He’s a wonderful dancer and executes the choreography beautifully without losing any of the boisterous relatability of a young boy at play. As the majority of the company members play characters that require them to have their faces covered by their costumes, Teddy’s reactions to them are absolutely key to telling the story and he never drops character and his interactions are joyful.
Playing the Snowman, Andrew Ashton is charming, charismatic and the children in the audience love him as soon as he comes to life. Despite what should be a cumbersome costume, he leaps and twirls around the stage with graceful agility, also bringing plenty of humour with a wiggle of his icy posterior.
In the first act, the Boy brings the Snowman into his house and we see a series of vignettes as they explore together – including an encounter with the family pet cat, played by Michaela Marrable, whose movement and reactions are instantly recognisable to anyone who shares their home with a feline friend. A tropical themed sequence in the kitchen where a pineapple, a banana and a coconut take part in a limbo competition feels a little out of place but it’s still great fun. And of course, just like in the book and film, the Snowman and Boy go for a ride on the family motorbike, the ice man’s chaotic steering terrorizing the cute little creatures living in the woods. The costumes are gorgeous and the dancers bring the animals to life with real charm.
I did feel that these scenes went on a little too long for the attention span of some of the younger audience members. The dancing is beautiful but as it’s all building up to the moment everybody has been waiting for, some of it does seem like filler to pad out the first act. As it is, there’s an audible gasp when the Snowman and Boy take flight for the iconic “Walking in the Air”. It doesn’t disappoint and their magical journey brings the house down.
Act Two brings another audience favourite to the stage, it’s a jolly and energetic Father Christmas (Federico Casadei), accompanied by a gaggle of snowmen from around the world. Our Snowman dances beautifully with a stunning Ice Princess played by Carla Hogarth in a performance that makes every little dancer (and a few bigger dancers) with they could be her!
There’s a little jeopardy introduced with the arrival of the sinister Jack Frost (Marko Matic) who stays just on the right side of scary as he leaps around the stage, creating impressive shadows with his spiky icy fingers. The sequence with the Snowman, Jack and the Princess is an opportunity to really showcase the talent of the dancers and it’s a visual treat.
The Snowman is a perfect way to start the festive season – a classic story beautifully brought to life by a talented cast and creative team. As REAL SNOW (!) falls on the audience at the end of the show, a mother in front of me asked her little boy if he’d enjoyed it and what he’d give The Snowman out of ten. “TWENTY!” he shouted, beaming from ear to ear. With an endorsement like that, it looks like it’s going to be a very happy Christmas at the Peacock!
At Peacock Theatre until 4 January 2025.
★★★★
