Review: THE SNOWMAN, Birmingham Rep Theatre, January 21 2016

The Snowman has been a widely recognised and fondly regarded book and film since its conception by Raymond Briggs in the late 1970's. It has had an annual Christmas TV slot since 1982 and the 26-minute film was even nominated for an Academy Award - not bad considering it derived from a children's picture book with no words! In 1986, the story was made into a stage show with Birmingham Rep producing the most notable version in 1993. It is here that I revisit the show thirty years after its stage debut.

Sadlers Wells have consistently presented The Snowman as their Christmas show every year since 1997. This alone highlights how timeless the piece is and is one that has been passed down to the next generation which will most likely happen for years to come. Being mid-January now, it is a bit of an odd time to watch the show as its magic lies with the Christmas period. A pantomime can generally stand on its own two feet at any time of year; it just so happens that they are played around the festive season. But The Snowman does not quite manage on this level. This said, on a school night in January, Birmingham Rep had good numbers for their opening night in the venue last night.

The music and lyrics by Howard Blake are beautiful throughout the show; there are also some lovely musical styles visited including flamenco and tango influences. Ultimately however, it builds up to the pinnacle number 'Walking In The Air' at the end of the first half and opening of the second which sees the Boy and the Snowman soaring high above the stage to childrens' delight.

Ruari Murchison's design is classically simple with oversized props and furniture, making it somewhat cartoon-like as per the animated film. It split my opinion on several occasions as sometimes the production felt very dated and in need of some TLC (particularly with the costumes) but then in other scenes, looked beautiful. This may be a matter of updating bits and pieces year on year thus making it a bit of a concoction. The direct links from the book and film to the stage production, however, have been immortalised very well. Tim Mitchell's lighting accompanies the overall vision nicely.

The Snowman, here played by James Leece, is strong in his characterisation and physicality throughout; his performance counter balanced by Oscar Couchman as the Boy gives a very expressive and enthusiastic performance. Their connection is lovely, especially during the flying sequences. There was unfortunately a show stop last night due to one of the flying wires getting caught in the set from the sounds of the almighty crunch. However, this was dealt with professionally and as quickly and efficiently as possible; it was just a shame it happened only five minutes before the end of the show. Other dynamic performances came from Domenico Ramelli as Jack Frost, Tomoyo Tanimoto Jequier as the Ice Princess and Antony Edwards as the Dad/Father Christmas.

The Snowman plays at Birmingham Rep until Sunday 24th January before ending its mini-tour in Nottingham next week.

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