We wish it could be Christmas every day
Blue sky and midday sunshine.....it didn’t feel much like The Night Before Christmas.
But that was before stepping into a magical kingdom at Haddon Hall where dreams can come true if you wish hard enough.
Flakes of snow fluttered down as visitors entered the courtyard in search of an awfully big adventure.
The hall was decked with boughs of holly, a willow reindeer and even some of Father Christmas’s clothes hanging out to dry in front of a log fire.
Festive fun was waiting to unfold upstairs where a Chief Elf pretending to be asleep was cradling her pet dog Milo, otherwise known as Santa’s Little Yelper.
The excited chatter of the boys and girls arriving to see Father Christmas - or FC to his elves - stirred the Chief from her 40 winks and quick as a flash she went into work mode.
She drafted in the children as little elves, winning them over with her Gangnam Style rap and her love of toys.
But Chief Elf’s toy addiction was also her downfall - because this was a naughty little helper who stole the best ones.
As the toy-making machine whirred into action with loud noises and flashing lights, the presents came whooshing out and Little Miss Mischief hid her favourites under a cushion.
Then Santa sat on the hidden toys and was far from jolly when he found out what Chief Elf had done.No ho-ho-holds were barred as he read her stories about what Christmas means to children.
He shared tales about Tom who didn’t believe in Santa until he took a trip on the Polar Express to meet him and made us think about the broken and unloved toys which are abandoned when new ones come along.
Chief Elf led everyone in a singalong of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and oh what fun we had doing the flashing nose and waving antlers actions.
Alll the boys and girls got a gift and the adults had a treat as they listened to jokes traded between Chief Elf and children waiting to see Santa. My favourite came from nine-year-old Owen Wheeldon of Awsworth: What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsellitis.
The festive fun was staged by actors Sarah Wynn-Kordas, Adrian Lloyd-James and director Karen Henson in a collaboration between Tabs Productions and Chesterfield Studios.
A Night Before Christmas continues at Chesterfield Studios on Newbold Road, Chesterfield, until December 21 and at Rose Hill United Reformed Church, Chesterfield, on December 22 and 23. Performances are at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Tickets £5 child and £8 adult, including gift.
GAY BOLTON
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Ideal fare for the 3-8 year-old, plus of course parents/grandparents.
As the show opens it is Christmas Eve. The lazy Chief Elf is curled up asleep in a rocking chair sucking her thumb. Milo, the Wire-Haired Jack Russell, is on her lap. But soon she’s woken by an alarm call. It’s Father Christmas; he’s run out of toys. She and her helpers have got to get to work.
There’s lots of audience involvement, of the non-threatening sort one notes – the odd sing-song with actions, and so on. Tinies sitting cross-legged at the front are willingly roped in as Assistant Elves and get to operate some toy-making machinery – there are some enjoyably mechanical sound effects and tongue-in-cheek gizmos.
Soon Father Christmas himself arrives. Turns out he’s able to suspend the passage of time as and when it takes his fancy, which explains his ability to deliver presents all over the world all in one night (well, yes) and to be in more than one place simultaneously, the Chesterfield Studios and Debenhams, for example (er … the physics is a trifle more dodgy here, surely).
We get appropriately emphatic acting from Sarah Wynne Kordas (Chief Elf), who also sings, and Adrian Lloyd James (FC). Milo, demonstrating impeccable behaviour, wins a lot of hearts.
This is your perfect antidote to the normal screen oriented Disneyised Christmas. It doesn’t patronise the children: it enriches them. And, when FC chides Chief Elf, there are some not over-earnest moral lessons about selfishness. At the end it’s presents for everyone from FC, and of course lots of picture-taking opportunities.
A packed and enthusiastic audience loved this Tabs Theatre Production.
Chief Elf: Sarah Wynne-Kordas.
Father Christmas: Adrian Lloyd James.
Milo the Dog as Himself.
Director: Karen Henson.
ALAN GEARY (reviewsgate.com)
But that was before stepping into a magical kingdom at Haddon Hall where dreams can come true if you wish hard enough.
Flakes of snow fluttered down as visitors entered the courtyard in search of an awfully big adventure.
The hall was decked with boughs of holly, a willow reindeer and even some of Father Christmas’s clothes hanging out to dry in front of a log fire.
Festive fun was waiting to unfold upstairs where a Chief Elf pretending to be asleep was cradling her pet dog Milo, otherwise known as Santa’s Little Yelper.
The excited chatter of the boys and girls arriving to see Father Christmas - or FC to his elves - stirred the Chief from her 40 winks and quick as a flash she went into work mode.
She drafted in the children as little elves, winning them over with her Gangnam Style rap and her love of toys.
But Chief Elf’s toy addiction was also her downfall - because this was a naughty little helper who stole the best ones.
As the toy-making machine whirred into action with loud noises and flashing lights, the presents came whooshing out and Little Miss Mischief hid her favourites under a cushion.
Then Santa sat on the hidden toys and was far from jolly when he found out what Chief Elf had done.No ho-ho-holds were barred as he read her stories about what Christmas means to children.
He shared tales about Tom who didn’t believe in Santa until he took a trip on the Polar Express to meet him and made us think about the broken and unloved toys which are abandoned when new ones come along.
Chief Elf led everyone in a singalong of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and oh what fun we had doing the flashing nose and waving antlers actions.
Alll the boys and girls got a gift and the adults had a treat as they listened to jokes traded between Chief Elf and children waiting to see Santa. My favourite came from nine-year-old Owen Wheeldon of Awsworth: What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsellitis.
The festive fun was staged by actors Sarah Wynn-Kordas, Adrian Lloyd-James and director Karen Henson in a collaboration between Tabs Productions and Chesterfield Studios.
A Night Before Christmas continues at Chesterfield Studios on Newbold Road, Chesterfield, until December 21 and at Rose Hill United Reformed Church, Chesterfield, on December 22 and 23. Performances are at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Tickets £5 child and £8 adult, including gift.
GAY BOLTON
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ideal fare for the 3-8 year-old, plus of course parents/grandparents.
As the show opens it is Christmas Eve. The lazy Chief Elf is curled up asleep in a rocking chair sucking her thumb. Milo, the Wire-Haired Jack Russell, is on her lap. But soon she’s woken by an alarm call. It’s Father Christmas; he’s run out of toys. She and her helpers have got to get to work.
There’s lots of audience involvement, of the non-threatening sort one notes – the odd sing-song with actions, and so on. Tinies sitting cross-legged at the front are willingly roped in as Assistant Elves and get to operate some toy-making machinery – there are some enjoyably mechanical sound effects and tongue-in-cheek gizmos.
Soon Father Christmas himself arrives. Turns out he’s able to suspend the passage of time as and when it takes his fancy, which explains his ability to deliver presents all over the world all in one night (well, yes) and to be in more than one place simultaneously, the Chesterfield Studios and Debenhams, for example (er … the physics is a trifle more dodgy here, surely).
We get appropriately emphatic acting from Sarah Wynne Kordas (Chief Elf), who also sings, and Adrian Lloyd James (FC). Milo, demonstrating impeccable behaviour, wins a lot of hearts.
This is your perfect antidote to the normal screen oriented Disneyised Christmas. It doesn’t patronise the children: it enriches them. And, when FC chides Chief Elf, there are some not over-earnest moral lessons about selfishness. At the end it’s presents for everyone from FC, and of course lots of picture-taking opportunities.
A packed and enthusiastic audience loved this Tabs Theatre Production.
Chief Elf: Sarah Wynne-Kordas.
Father Christmas: Adrian Lloyd James.
Milo the Dog as Himself.
Director: Karen Henson.
ALAN GEARY (reviewsgate.com)