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Wishing you a yucky yuletide
Jim Low (Rudolph), left, James Earle Adair
(Sidney Claus), Mimi Edwards (Mother), Tom Gillies (Watson), Tom Jude
(Father) and Erika Poole (Shirley Holmes) Horrible Christmas
Birmingham Old Rep
*** BIRMINGHAM Stage Company’s festive show
adapts Terry Deary’s Horrible Christmas for the stage. And it is certainly horrible! When Watson
Williams meets Santa Claus on the night before Christmas he expects to
receive a sack load of presents.
Instead the man in red is actually Sydney Clause who is bent on ruining Christmas for everyone. He pockets poor Watson’s presents and then heads back in time to some key dates in yuletide history. At each one he is intent on wrecking Christmas for all future generations.
En route he meets Charles Dickens suffering from
writer’s block, Charles II fearing his head may end up on the same block
which beheaded his father and Henry VIII, who is just a blockhead! This is very much a children’s show
It picks up the lessons of panto, oh yes it does,
but also packs in lots of education. Some of this resonates more with
the adults than the children, many of whom had no idea who the puritans
were and didn’t really get many of the Charles II jokes. Erika Poole (Shirley Holmes) Tom Jude (King Charles ll) Tom Gillies (Watson) The cast prove themselves to be highly versatile.
Tom Gillies is Watson, whose rather strange name becomes clear when he
is called upon to investigate Sydney Clause by none other than Shirley
Holmes. Elementary my dear Watson. James Earl Adair is suitably nasty as Sydney
Clause - cue lots of boos each time he comes on stage. His sidekick
Rudolph, played by Jim Low, is a simple creature, easily led astray –
and then back to the narrow path. Erika Poole is the chuckling Holmes who is
determined to follow Clause no matter which century or country he heads
off to. Special credit goes to Tom Jude and Mimi Edwards
who take the majority of the other characters switching from serving
maid to Turkish maiden or Charles II to Henry VIII in minutes. Staged at Birmingham’s Old Rep Theatre, Horrible
Christmas is lots of fun and keeps up a merry pace. Watching it in
November feels just a little early – this is definitely a show for
Christmas. Diane Parkes15-11-14
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with lots of
silly jokes, some madcap running around, a song for the audience to join
in and lots of opportunities for the audience to shout out.