Northampton’s Snow Queen is royal Christmas treat

Published: 21 November 2015
Reporter: Steve Orme

In rehearsal: The Snow Queen

A new version of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen is the Christmas 2015 attraction on the Royal stage at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate.

Georgia Pritchett, who has penned The Snow Queen, has written for Miranda, The Thick Of It and Wallace And Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. She is a writer and co-executive producer on the HBO Emmy-winning show Veep.

The Snow Queen features a young boy named Kai who is kidnapped. His best friend Gerda, a stumpy, grumpy, determined girl, is the unlikely heroine who sets out to rescue him. On the way she discovers the truth behind the mysterious Snow Queen’s identity and why she lives locked up in solitude in her icy palace.

The cast includes Angela Bain (witch), Mairi Barclay (Princess / robber maiden), Mona Goodwin (Gerda), Caroline Head (Snow Queen), Tosin Olomowewe (raven), Richard Pryal (Prince/Rudolph) and Jonny Weldon (Kai).

Gary Sefton directs. He directed A Christmas Carol in 2012 and The Wind in the Willows in 2013 at Royal and Derngate.

The Snow Queen has original songs by Dougal Irvine who composed the music for The Bacchae and Blood Wedding at Royal and Derngate in 2012.

A co-production with Nuffield, Southampton, The Snow Queen runs from Wednesday 25 November until Sunday 3 January 2016.

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