We set off on another book-based adventure for the whole family in The MAC’s take on The Night Before Christmas.
Meet a storyteller who loses her words, plus lots of characters from your favourite fairytales, in this festive fable about the power of stories. Will our spinner of yarns rediscover her wonderful tales in time for Christmas?
The rather grand stage at the MAC is laid out head to toe in bookshelves, books, and library apparatus as far as the eye to see as the tale of a kingdom run by Queen Talia that is overly functional and slowly having their stories eradicated in favor of science and maths.
A cast of 6 takes us through the tale that includes classic fairytales like The Little Match Girl, the ug…erm Utterly fabulous Duckling, and the 3 Little Pigs. Every turn has a song and with all music and percussion being played live by the cast it makes for a lively affair.
The live music gives the songs a warmth and some excellent stage mapping and projection give it an interactive edge that feels fresh and current. 2 x 45-minute halves keep things in a manageable timeframe for the youngsters and my 8 yo even refrained from asking “How long is left?” throughout. He also pronounced this show “Good” so high praise indeed!
Whilst we enjoyed all the songs, the 3 Little Pigs barbershop-style harmonies were the highlight and had the audience laughing and clapping the whole way through. With some very Northern Irish humour thrown in it’s good to see Playwright Stephen Begg’s writing style get the laughs it deserves.
The audience we saw this with had kids from toddlers up to teenagers and it honestly felt it had something for all to enjoy. So come for the story, songs, and comedy but stay for the 3 little pigs, you won’t be disappointed!
The Night Before Christmas is on at The MAC until the 7th Jan 2024. For more info and tickets see here.
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