The Jolly Christmas Postman, Royal and Derngate Review
Samuel Morgan-Grahame and Joseph Kempster in The Jolly Christmas Postman. Photo by Robert Day
Written by Hollie for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
This year’s children’s Christmas show at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton is an adaptation of beloved authors Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s Christmas tale, The Jolly Christmas Postman. With a postbox and letters set up in the entrance hall for the children to write their letters to Santa, I knew that this was going to be a fabulous show before I even walked into the auditorium.
In a cottage on a hill, everything is calm and still as Jolly, played by Samuel Morgan-Grahame, pours himself a cup of English Breakfast tea and prepares himself for a day of delivering letters to the local residents and friends on Christmas Eve. Jolly is having a busy festive season. Along with his bicycle, his satchel and some helpful friends, he delivers envelopes to a range of traditional fairy tale characters.
With original music and songs written by Darren Clark, you can’t help but get cosy and settle in for an hour’s worth of festive fun with the whole family. The ensemble of six actors opens with a beautiful song which tells you about Jolly’s morning and how he gets ready for the day.
The actors themselves play a range of musical instruments throughout the production such as the accordion and the violin, and the actors' talents both in singing and playing instruments make this show fun, happy and energetic. There is an equal balance between the musical numbers and the amount of dialogue which keeps the production pacy and fun for all.
Along the way, Jolly meets the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and The Gingerbread Boy. The audience is provided with a visual surprise each time a new character is introduced, as their envelope is opened and their letter is delivered. The scenery for each new character represents their life and traditional stories, and I couldn’t help but try to find as many details as I could within the set.
With each character comes a new problem for Jolly to solve and you can’t help but wonder whether he will be able to get all of his letters delivered before Christmas.
Jesse Jones directs has really brought his vision to life and the addition of the set and prop designs makes it utterly mesmerising. The show provides you with the feeling of a traditional Christmas of years gone by. I particularly enjoyed the scene between Jolly and The Gingerbread Boy as I thought this was really cleverly done.
The attention to detail in Santa’s workshop was incredibly imaginative and used the full height of the Royal Stage. It was literally only shown on stage for about 5 minutes but the effort and intricacy that had been put into that staging was so beautiful.
As the Jolly Postman gets onto his bike again and rides off through the wind and the rain, across another bridge and another river, there are many titters of laughter from the adult audience members, as they enjoy the use of quick wit and dry humour through the songs and through the use of dialogue between the different characters. Ellen Chivers as Humpty Dumpty deserves a particular mention as her solo song in the role was eggscellent!
As the first fresh flakes of snow appear on the stage, not everything is rosy for Jolly and there is a sense of impending doom. Whose house is Jolly going to next?
Fill up your bag with Eccles cakes and get all warm and snug at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate Theatre this Christmas. What a Merry Christmas for all in Northamptonshire!
This show brought tears to my eyes and I cannot recommend it enough for younger children who will be completely in awe of Jolly and his little World.
The Jolly Christmas Postman continues its run at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate Theatre this festive season until Tuesday 31st December 2024.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
