Review: THE SNOWMAN, The REP Birmingham
Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
It’s safe to say that Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman is cemented in all our childhood memories, whether you’ve read the book or seen the television adaptation, it’s a true festive delight. The stage production lends itself so well to the magical world of ‘The Boy’ and his wonderful night of adventure with ‘The Snowman’.
The sumptuous music, composed by Howard Blake, transported you to a pretty special place and as soon as the first few bars of ‘Walking In The Air’ play, the magic starts. The staging, designed by Ruari Murchison, leaves you feeling anything but cold, with projections of snow that really set the scene.
‘The Boy’, played spectacularly by Ethan Sokonwe, captures the innocence of an excited child seeing the snow so well and he is certainly a shining star in this production. Upon building his snowman, the anticipation of what is to come builds beautifully with the incredible score. In a production with no dialogue, the movement on stage needs to be exaggerated and there is no mistaking the narrative of the story throughout.
After a restless sleep, ‘The Boy’ can’t wait any longer and heads outside to see whether his snowman is as magical as he imagines. What ensues is a wonderful childhood dream of your creation coming to life. Once inside the mind of ‘The Boy’, the staging is cleverly changed so everything is bigger to represent his small stature. Whether it is dancing around with the house cat, dressing up in the Dad’s clothing, meeting dancing giant fruit, yes dancing giant fruit, it was apparent that this night of fun was only going to get better.
As the relationship between ‘The Boy’ and ‘The Snowman’ grows stronger, the moment we were all waiting for comes at the end of Act 1. Yes, snowmen really can fly and combine that with the infamous ‘Walking in the Air’ sung by Aled Jones (albeit not in the flesh), a tear formed and we were instantly transported back to our own childhoods. The gasps from the children in the audience also adds to this outstanding point in the production.
In Act 2, the magical adventure takes ‘The Boy’ and ‘The Snowman’ back to the North Pole where we meet many more snowmen friends and even meet Father Christmas himself! The dance numbers, choreographed by Robert North, are nothing short of mesmerising. The power of the music and dance combined in this production really does transport you to somewhere quite special.
Obviously in most adventures there must be a baddie, and this is played superbly by Barry Drummond as ‘Jack Frost’. However, there is no chance of this fairy-tale being anything other than perfect, so once ‘Jack Frost’ has been defeated by the array of snowmen, including ‘Scotty Snowman’, ‘Chinese Snowman’, ‘Cowboy Snowman’ and even a jazz hands ‘Fred Astaire Snowman’, Father Christmas gives ‘The Boy’ a special blue scarf adorned with pictures of snowmen and once again, they take to the sky to return home.
Upon returning home, after a tender moment between ‘The Boy’ and ‘The Snowman’, it is time for the adventure to finish and it is back off to bed. We all know the science behind snow and any increase of temperature can result in a wet puddle on the floor…….well, there is no exception for ‘The Boy’ and upon waking the next morning, his best friend and adventure buddy is no more. Clearly heartbroken and wondering whether it was all just a dream, ‘The Boy’ finds the special blue scarf and realises that what he experienced was 100% real. The snow then once again begins to fall and you can feel the excitement once again from the ‘The Boy’ that his adventure is about to start all over again.
This production is captivating, magical and fun for all the family.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Emma Rowley
The Snowman plays at The REP Birmingham until Sunday 9 January 2022, with tickets available here.