Londoners and London suburbanites benefit from having a choice of top quality children's theatre venues.
Amongst these are, north of the river, the diminutive Little Angel Theatre and south of the river the three–venue Unicorn.
Both offer a range of Christmas treats for young audiences and their families.
At the Unicorn, those as young as six months can enjoy a live performance:
- The Nutcracker and The Mouse King is a new version of Hoffmann’s popular classics adapted by Annie Siddons, suitable for ages 8+. It has original music and sound design by Marc Teitler and it uncovers the story behind the ballet. The cast includes Naomi Ackie, Alex Austin, Colin Michael Carmichael, Ashley Gerlach, Sandy Grierson, Akiya Henry, Kristin Hutchinson, Asif Khan and Julia Innocenti.
- The Fourth Wise Man is a new show by Lee Lyford for those aged 4+. It has music composed and performed by Attab Haddad and in the cast are Rita Ayra and Philip Arditti. This show is about Artaban, the fourth wise man of whom no one has heard; it is the story of one man and an elusive camel.
- Scrunch is an intimate sensory Christmas show created by Sarah Argent and Kevin Lewis for an audience aged 6 to 18 months. The performer is Kevin Lewis.
Also this Christmas, those aged between 8 and 12 can have a sleepover on the Unicorn stage; available for one night only this is the chance to watch The Nutcracker and The Mouse King, meet the actors, take part in onstage activities, then have a storytelling session before bed on the Weston stage.
At the Little Angel Theatre in Islington this Christmas is:
- Jabberwocky a showinspired by Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem of the same name.
It was first produced a decade ago and has been re–worked for audiences of age six and over; a Christmas time adventure about the little boy who leaves the house where the grown-ups rule to go into the forest. Amongst the new things waiting to be discovered is a fearsome monster… beware the Jabbawock! Jabberwocky is based on an original script by Louise Warren. It is directed by Steve Tiplady, designed by Peter O’Rourke and has music by Hannah Marshall. - Cindermouse draws on the Cinderella story for an audience of those aged three to eight. Using a host of colourful glove and rod puppet characters—the outrageous sisters, the delicate fairy, acrobats who tumble and dancers who twirl—it tells the story of Cindermouse who finds love in the arms of a prince. Cindermouse is written by Juliet Larkin, adapted by Karen Prell and directed by Ronnie Le Drew.
Relaxed, captioned and audio described performances are available. Refer to the venue for dates and details of age suitability and entrance requirements.