Until theatre lovers can experience that alchemy on stage again, this initiative is one way to brighten up the month for those who can’t visit a venue
Never mind The Nutcracker – the most fun I had at the theatre last Christmas, in fact all last year, was with a nut-hunting squirrel. Staged in an attic space at the Egg theatre in Bath, Kate Cross and Tim Bell’s half-hour show for under-fives let loose a puppet rodent on a brilliant Bauhaus-style set. Everything about it worked. The young audience huddled together and played around actor-puppeteer Caroline Garland who told the story with them, not to them, and the sense of alchemy you feel in great theatre-making ended with a final flourish that still makes me smile.
This Christmas, of course, that sort of show just couldn’t be staged – although the Egg does have a couple of socially distanced festive productions. But what’s this? Squirrel is back and co-starring with the hero of one of the Egg’s past Christmas plays, Snow Mouse. The Egg is one of several UK theatres to have created an online advent calendar to brighten up the month for kids who may not be able to visit a venue. It’s an inspired move, particularly as Christmas is the only time of the year that many families get to the theatre.