Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas at the Lyric Hammersmith

There’s not many things that get me travelling out to West London in the early hours of a rainy Wednesday morning, but sometimes, the reviewer’s life means sacrificing sleep so that you can get to the Lyric Hammersmith in time for a 09:30 performance of Father Christmas.

Based on the 1973 book written and drawn by Raymond Briggs, Father Christmas tells the story of the man himself from the moment he is dragged out of his sleep on the morning of the 24th December until he finally gets back into bed on the evening of the 25th. Now, this is not the jolly Santa shown in so many adverts. Oh no, Father Christmas is an old man who is, well let’s not beat about the bush, a bit of a curmudgeon. He lives in a fairly ordinary house with his cat, dog and two reindeer and you get the feeling he is less enthusiastic about Christmas Eve than the majority of the world. Still, he is nothing if not a professional, and deep down he does still love his job, and so he dons the suit and heads off to deliver presents to all the children. Along the way, he has to negotiate the modern urban landscape and every type of weather imaginable. Of course, being who he is, Father Christmas carried out his job successfully and when he finally gets home to his solitary Christmas dinner, you can see this is a man that has really earned a big meal – then putting his feet up in front of the fire.

Well, I’ve read the book (and the sequel), seen the film) with Mel Smith as Father Christmas, and now seen the stage show and oh my word, it is absolutely brilliant. Pins and Needles Production have done an amazing job in bringing the book to life in an entertaining and highly professional way. Zoe Squire’s set is a delight as it moves from Father Christmas’ bedroom to kitchen to a complete city. There are surprises everywhere in the set and part of the fun is working out what will happen to it to bring the next part of the story to life. There was a wonderful moment when Father Christmas opened a wardrobe door and there was his red coat hanging there – this caused a real gasp from the audience of young children, some teachers and me, as the little ones realised this “really” was Father Christmas in front of them.

The running time is around 60 minutes and Director Emma Earle manages to get everything in without the pace ever feeling rushed and you could tell from the near silence around me that the children were drinking the show in. Have to mention the toilet scene here. I’m not going to go into detail but the scene is not only hilarious but has also completely changed my perspective on Bizet’s Carmen.

There really is nothing negative to say about this show. Father Christmas was wonderful as were the cat, dog, reindeers and chicken – original puppets by Max Humphries – and the mixture of action and percussion is beautifully timed so everything fits together like a hand in a glove.

Overall, then, Father Christmas was a wonderful show to kick off the festive season. Well worth the early start from my point of view and as left the Lyric, full of Christmas cheer, I really just wanted to wish everyone a “Happy Blooming Christmas!”

Review by Terry Eastham for London Theatre 1