REVIEW: THE SNOWMAN, PEACOCK THEATRE
- AG
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
We Walk in the Air for the Festive Theatre Stalwart’s 28th Christmas
For 28 Christmases, the Peacock Theatre has transformed into a magical snow globe, delighting families with The Snowman, its stage adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ picture book and the classic Christmas movie.
We experienced London’s festive stalwart for the first time, and the look on my children’s faces was pure Christmas magic, as snow cascaded from above, to the soaring live orchestral performance of Howard Blake’s iconic music, while snowmen and Santa himself danced between snowy trees.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I might have had something in my eye - blame the snow - during this beautifully nostalgic piece of ballet.
It tells the story of a little boy’s adventures with a snowman, who comes to life on Christmas Eve and takes him on a fantastical adventure, meeting snowmen, dancing penguins, a snow princess, Jack Frost and Santa himself.
Teddy Holton-Frances is a remarkable young actor as The Boy, full of energy and joy. The familiar opening scenes of the movie are recreated with fabulous staging by Ruari Murchison, showing sections of their cosy home, so that we can simultaneously enjoy the boy’s wonder at the snowy playground outside, while his parents act out Eighties domesticity inside, and comical horror at him smashing a neighbour’s window with a snowball.
The 26 minute film is extended into a 1 hour 50 spectacular, with glorious stand-out moments, like the acrobatics of the squirrels, badgers and foxes, leaping away from The Snowman and The Boy as they race around the moonlit forest on a roaring motorbike.
The much-loved scenes showing the Snowman’s exploration of the home are forensically faithful to the film - popping in the dad’s false teeth, melting by the fire, encountering a scary cat, playing with new fruity noses and blissfully cooling in the freezer.
Helium cackles were also drawn from captivated children in a delightfully surreal new scene, featuring giant pineapples and bananas exploding from a fridge for a disco.
Obviously, the big moment lifts us all from the ground, as The Boy and The Snowman gracefully glide above our heads to the iconic Walking in the Air music - which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
The second half lifts us even higher, when Christmas explodes onto the stage in a flurry of dancing snowmen, penguins and Santa, with impressive physicality in their cumbersome fat suits.
A villain is added to this adaptation, in the spiky, icy shape of Jack Frost, as well as a love interest for The Snowman - a snow princess ballerina. Jack and The Snowman compete for her, via the medium of dance.
Our satsuma-nosed hero wins, Santa gets involved and quite rightly, does not give Jack a present. A very naughty boy, but a great dancer.
Naturally, The Boy receives a gift - the bittersweet scarf. Proof that anything is possible and a reminder of one magical night with a special friend.
We’ve all watched the film every Christmas. We all know what’s coming and are braced for the trauma.
But this does not prevent the mass audience heartbreak when the little boy races down to see his frosty friend once more after their magical night, and instead finds a pile of melted snow on Christmas morning.
There were audible sobs in the audience, and not just from me.
But unlike the movie, which leaves us wailing into a bucket of Quality Street as the credits roll, the mood is swiftly brought back to Christmas joy, when the entire cast returns for a joyous encore.
They dance together to a medley of the show’s greatest hits, while snow magically falls from above and children dance in the aisles.
The film has always been a Christmas staple in our house. And now we will be adding this show to our festive traditions, to relive The Boy’s one remarkable night once more, and feel true Christmas magic.
Birmingham Rep’s The Snowman at Sadler’s Wells West End home, Peacock Theatre, Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT. From £18pp. Until 4 January 2026
