George Maguire and Rachael Wooding in Another Night Before Christmas at the Bridge House Theatre, London. Picture: Robert Workman
Another Night Before Christmas continues at the Bridge House Theatre, London until 23 December.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
A hidden gem just 20 minutes from London’s Victoria Station, Bridge House Theatre in Penge (SE20) has a proven track record of producing wonderful, magical Christmas productions and the team there has done it again.
Following in the footsteps of It’s a Wonderful Life in 2014 and A Christmas Carol last year, Another Night Before Christmas is simply not to be missed.
A modern take on a familiar theme of people jaded by the stresses and strains of life, determined to ignore any Christmas spirit unless it comes in a bottle, only to be thwarted by being forced to rediscover the real meaning of Christmas, Sean Grennan’s script is witty, pacey and delivers some surprise laugh-aloud moments.
Certainly people were buzzing during the interval and eager to get back for a second half to find out how ‘bah humbug’ was thwarted (absolutely confident that it would be of course!)
Bridge House is a small theatre with big aspirations and in its inspired casting of George Maguire as the eccentric, histrionic mysterious ‘man’ we are treated to a rock star version of Santa, featuring great vocals. McGuire is a talented charismatic actor who demands and deserves attention.
We learn a lot about the history of Santa around the world in just a few minutes so it’s fascinating as well as entertaining stuff.
I also loved that Maguire made his reindeer totally believable, calling them all by name and taking to them just as we all talk to our cats and dogs.
Paired with Rachael Wooding as Carole, a disillusioned social worker, torn between wanting the police to come and sort ‘the burglar’ and wanting to make sure he’s okay, sparks genuinely fly between the two.
Maguire and Wooding both establish totally believable characters from the outset with great energy, style and pace, caustically bouncing off one another throughout Act I before warming to each other, and being truly thankful for their meeting by the end.
Leah Okimoto’s score includes some lovely poignant songs such as ‘Poles Apart’ and ‘Christmas Moon’ which contrast with the frenetic script, as well as a truly hilarious number in Act II called ‘Kill der Bingle’ which had the audience in hysterics.
Martin Bristow’s lighting is well judged and beautifully done, adding much atmosphere throughout. There is also a fun side to the story involving a maverick voice recognition system which has a mind of its own and refuses to get Carole’s name correct throughout the entire performance – it’s as funny at the end as at the beginning.
The voices of Rachel Tucker and Oliver Tompsett also feature, playing additional characters via the impossible voice recognition alarm system which adds a touch of ‘The West End’ to proceedings.
Guy Retallack’s staging of Another Night Before Christmas is entertaining, funny, witty, magical and suitable for most ages (perhaps not the very young).
Joyfully illustrating the real meaning of Christmas, Maguire and Wooding are perfect. If you love the season it’s a Christmas must see.
Catherine Françoise
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