There are so many Snow Queens and Christmas Carols around at this time of year that it’s a joy to discover a new seasonal fairytale. Inspired by a Scandinavian folk story, composer Barb Jungr and director Samantha Lane have co-written this show set on a farm watched over by shock-haired, pudding-loving pixies. By tradition, a pud is left out for them on Christmas Eve and in return they bless the animals and crops over the year ahead.
A charming song cycle by Jungr takes us through the seasons and the changing landscape. An ageing farmer (Gilbert Taylor) goes about his daily work on Mila Sanders’s set, which switches easily from cottage to farmyard and back again. Molly the Sheepdog, whose shaggy ruff of curls ripples with each shake of the head, is the standout among various animal rod-puppets designed by Lyndie Wright. The annual pudding is the type you only ever see in illustrations: bowling ball-sized, adorned with holly and berries.
The first half of the production is positively ruddy in its wholesomeness – not so much a sugary treat of a show as a warming bowl of porridge. When the farmer decides to move on, he urges the next owner to look after the pixies, but the new arrival (Taylor, doubling as a younger man) dismisses it as rural superstition despite the advice of his daughter (Nix Wood).
When the pudding fails to appear at Christmas, there is supernatural uproar scored by Jungr with a bluesy stomp of protest. The angry pixies curse the farm’s crops and send the cockerel to sleep but I longed for a little more poltergeist-like revenge, with messier mayhem, and this production for 4- to 11-year-olds too often feels subdued. Watching the pudding prepared with the invisible contents of tins, I remembered how Danyah Miller made such magic from her onstage cookery with real eggs and flour in Kika’s Birthday.
The right ingredients are here for a family show – characterful puppets, warm performances, catchy tunes – but this pudding misses the glint of a silver sixpence. Still, it may encourage children to leave something extra alongside Santa’s mince pie next time.
At the Little Angel theatre, London, until 2 February.
