Review: HOW DOES SANTA GO DOWN THE CHIMNEY? Unicorn Theatre

Unicorn Theatre’s festive offering this season is a wonderfully eccentric Santa-based delight. How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? transforms Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s much loved picture book into a piece of bold physical theatre , which celebrates curiosity, imagination and joyful nonsense. In its first collaboration with Told by an Idiot, Unicorn Theatre delivers a Christmas show that feels mischievous, inventive and refreshingly unpredictable.

From the moment the audience is welcomed by three reindeer speaking Danish, promising to wear their underwear, the wild tone is gleefully set. Reindeer calls ripple through the auditorium, as the cast sing in charming unison, before launching into a world dominated by a large chimney and fluffy white sloping rooftops to slide down. The movement is playful but surreal, with tattooed pot bellied Santa's tumbling and stumbling with red clown noses clearly signalling that this is circus inspired theatre, where logic politely steps aside.

Paul Hunter’s Adaptation and Direction revel in anarchic fun, while maintaining a strong sense of craft. The ensemble excel in physical comedy and beautifully detailed puppet work guided by Rachel Leonard. A leaf blower celebrates the vision of falling snow and repeated images of Santa squeezing, stretching and flattening himself offers a comic exploration of the central question. Audience participation is used generously and sensitively with young helpers invited onstage often, to tighten Santa’s belt and assist with his increasingly uncomfortable attempts to fit down the chimney, complete with unavoidable tummy troubles.

The production thrives on invention. A sneaky Santa accidentally washing his red suit into a pink catastrophe draws delighted laughter, while a game show sponsored by carrots explores what happens if there is no chimney as an entry point at all. Highlights come thick and fast from a rebellious giant key bounding out of reach, to Santa photocopying his face, leg and bottom with cheeky abandon. One sequence imagining Santa crawling out of a television proves slightly unsettling for parental viewers, yet the shock is fleeting and quickly replaced by silliness with an evil 'baby' in a walker.

Music and movement are integral to the storytelling with Frida Cæcilia Rødbroe’s live composition and Mikey Ureta’s choreography driving the momentum. The cast appear to relish every moment of the chaos, engaging the audience with songs including the infectious "Daddy put the key under the flower pot" tune. A Mission Impossible style sequence involving TNT 'explosions' delighted younger viewers, with fast and furious moments of imaginative detours through skiing, picnicking, badminton, night vision goggle adventures and bicycle rides, which keep the energy high.

At its heart this is a production about play and clowning. It embraces unstructured chaos while remaining rooted in the joy of collective imagination. Santa’s struggles with dogs, the issue of present delivery entry points, seeking milk and cookies in reward of his efforts. In How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? chaos become a celebration of effort, generosity and festive determination. Unicorn Theatre and Told by an Idiot have created a Christmas show which trusts children to delight in the absurd and invites adults to rediscover the pleasure of asking gloriously unanswerable questions.