THEATRE
1 The Snow Queen
Once again, Theresa Heskins delivers a wonderful festive show. This tale of friendship, self-sacrifice and adventure should thaw the most wintry of hearts as Gerda sets out to save her friend Kai from the clutches of the icy Snow Queen, with Heskins drawing as much on Dickens as she does on Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale.
New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, to 28 Jan
2 The Little Matchgirl And Other Happier Tales
There’s more theatrical gold being spun from the stories of Hans Christian Andersen here. This time, it’s Emma Rice who is delivering with a fantastically appealing show. An ingenious framing device – which sees versions of The Princess And The Pea, The Emperor’s New Clothes and Thumbelina performed by an Edwardian travelling troupe – adds a tattered glamour to the evening. Paul Hunter is brilliant as the down-at-heel vaudevillian in whose addled mind the show may, or may not, be taking place. It’s full of invention, light and shade, and bare-faced cheek.
Shakespeare’s Globe: Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, SE1, to 22 Jan
3 Five Guys Named Moe
First seen at the Theatre Royal Stratford East more than 25 years ago, this crowd-pleasing show is still guaranteed to get the joint jumping. A jukebox musical before Mamma Mia! made the genre ubiquitous, it offers a whistlestop tour through the music of Louis Jordan, who’s been described as the father of rhythm’n’blues.
Festival Square Theatre, Edinburgh, to 7 Jan
4 This House
The four years it has taken for James Graham’s political drama to travel from the National Theatre to the West End hasn’t diminished its impact, as proven by this astute Jeremy Herrin production. Set between 1974 and 1979, when the Labour government had such a small majority that dying MPs were occasionally wheeled in to vote, the play focuses on the Labour and Tory whips’ offices. A thoroughly entertaining look at democracy in action.
Garrick Theatre, WC2, to 25 Feb
5 Thebes Land
You only have a week to catch this knotty and entertaining play by Franco-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco, which takes the Oedipus myth and gives it a good shake. Nothing is what it initially seems in a play beautifully directed by Daniel Goldman and exquisitely performed by Trevor White and Alex Austin, which constantly discombobulates the audience as it explores truth and lies, the art of storytelling and how often we only see the things we want to.
Lyn Gardner
DANCE
1 The Nutcracker
Nutcracker season is in full swing, and Wayne Eagling’s production for English National Ballet has the requisite sugar-spun sparkle, albeit with one or two ill-judged quirks.
2 Russian State Ballet Of Siberia
The Russian company delivers a season of classics, with Frederick Ashton’s pastoral comedy La Fille Mal Gardée running alongside Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Tue to 2 Jan; touring to 26 Feb
3 The Little Match Girl
Arthur Pita is on top imaginative form in his funny, magical and family friendly adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale.
The Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1, to 30 Dec
Judith Mackrell
