Christmas on Stage
By Alexandra Lodge
Christmas and theatre have always gone hand in hand, so much so that the festive season has its own unique genre of theatre: most famously, pantomime, and alongside this various Christmas-themed plays and of course, the traditional ballets.
As many of you will be leaving St Andrews to go home elsewhere in the UK, or maybe just to visit another town, here is a rundown of some of the shows you can expect from the UK's top venues.
The most obvious place to find plenty of choice is London; there is literally too much going on there to fit into one article, but some of the highlights include The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre, a dance-based show aimed at the very young; Sleeping Beauty (ballet) at the Royal Opera House; The Snow Queen (ballet) at the Coliseum; Pied Piper, transformed into a street dance tale, at the Barbican Theatre; and two versions of A Christmas Carol, at the Arts Theatre and King's Head Theatre. Or, for a night out minus the prevalence of the Christmas atmosphere, London's usual hit shows will still be around, including Wicked, Mamma Mia! and Hairspray.
Closer to our Bubble, December in Edinburgh and Glasgow has good shows to offer. The Glasgow Pavilion, with its longstanding reputation for fun family pantos, is staging The New Magical Adventures of Pinocchio;but if you want something a little less family-orientated then the Theatre Royal is playing host to The Nutcracker, which is then travelling to Edinburgh's Festival Theatre at the beginning of January. Until then, the Festival Theatre is running The Corstorphine Road Nativity by Tim Firth, the writer of Calendar Girls, which already has some fantastic reviews for its comedy. The King's Theatre (Edinburgh) is staying traditional with its annual pantomime, but it has not stuck to the traditional use of fairy tales, instead showing Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates. An adventure panto, probably with the usual predictable plot, but hopefully some good comedy along the way; the cast are experienced in King's Theatre panto after all.
More traditional pantomimes are not hard to find, though. Aladdin plays at both Glasgow's King's Theatre and the Manchester Opera House; Peter Pan at the Edinburgh Lyceum; Cinderella at Newcastle's Theatre Royal; Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome; Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at Bristol Hippodrome; and Robin Hood at both the Olympia Theatre in Dublin and the New Theatre in Cardiff, with the Cardiff version having the slight bonus of starring none other than West End actor/singer (and familiar face to the BBC audience) John Barrowman.
Remember that pantomime writers know there are adults in the audience: there will be plenty of humour aimed for students like us, which conveniently goes over the children's heads. Christmas is a time to loosen up, and to perhaps return to your more childish side, and the atmosphere at a Christmas show is such a feel-good one that it's hard not to have a good time.
By Alexandra Lodge
Christmas and theatre have always gone hand in hand, so much so that the festive season has its own unique genre of theatre: most famously, pantomime, and alongside this various Christmas-themed plays and of course, the traditional ballets.
As many of you will be leaving St Andrews to go home elsewhere in the UK, or maybe just to visit another town, here is a rundown of some of the shows you can expect from the UK's top venues.
The most obvious place to find plenty of choice is London; there is literally too much going on there to fit into one article, but some of the highlights include The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre, a dance-based show aimed at the very young; Sleeping Beauty (ballet) at the Royal Opera House; The Snow Queen (ballet) at the Coliseum; Pied Piper, transformed into a street dance tale, at the Barbican Theatre; and two versions of A Christmas Carol, at the Arts Theatre and King's Head Theatre. Or, for a night out minus the prevalence of the Christmas atmosphere, London's usual hit shows will still be around, including Wicked, Mamma Mia! and Hairspray.
Closer to our Bubble, December in Edinburgh and Glasgow has good shows to offer. The Glasgow Pavilion, with its longstanding reputation for fun family pantos, is staging The New Magical Adventures of Pinocchio;but if you want something a little less family-orientated then the Theatre Royal is playing host to The Nutcracker, which is then travelling to Edinburgh's Festival Theatre at the beginning of January. Until then, the Festival Theatre is running The Corstorphine Road Nativity by Tim Firth, the writer of Calendar Girls, which already has some fantastic reviews for its comedy. The King's Theatre (Edinburgh) is staying traditional with its annual pantomime, but it has not stuck to the traditional use of fairy tales, instead showing Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates. An adventure panto, probably with the usual predictable plot, but hopefully some good comedy along the way; the cast are experienced in King's Theatre panto after all.
More traditional pantomimes are not hard to find, though. Aladdin plays at both Glasgow's King's Theatre and the Manchester Opera House; Peter Pan at the Edinburgh Lyceum; Cinderella at Newcastle's Theatre Royal; Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome; Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at Bristol Hippodrome; and Robin Hood at both the Olympia Theatre in Dublin and the New Theatre in Cardiff, with the Cardiff version having the slight bonus of starring none other than West End actor/singer (and familiar face to the BBC audience) John Barrowman.
Remember that pantomime writers know there are adults in the audience: there will be plenty of humour aimed for students like us, which conveniently goes over the children's heads. Christmas is a time to loosen up, and to perhaps return to your more childish side, and the atmosphere at a Christmas show is such a feel-good one that it's hard not to have a good time.