An interactive festive delight

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Stick Man at the Royal & Derngate theatre was an energetic and entertaining performance which brought the beloved children’s story to life. Stick Man is a wonderful story book, and a popular BBC movie short, it’s one that our household love, especially around Christmas time!

So we were delighted to find out that the delightful adaptation by Freckle Productions, based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s iconic creation, has a Christmas run in Northampton in 2023 – and fans of Stick Man, it’s well worth getting tickets.

The story begins with Stick Man’s innocent morning jog, but it quickly evolves into a series of misadventures that brought roars of laughter from the children – and plenty of audience participation too! The kids absolutely LOVED when the cast ran wild around the stalls, and the elements of panto with “it’s behind you!” encouraged.

From a mischievous dog wanting to fetch him to becoming part of a swan’s nest and even finding himself on a fire, Stick Man’s theatre journey is filled with ups and downs and lots of belly-laughs.

The iconic lines, “I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, that’s me!” and “OHHH STICK MAN” echoed through the theatre, with many children recognising the lines and joining in. The cast of three, made up of Aaron-Louis Cadogan, Rosie Malone, and Ben Williamson-Jones were all incredibly energetic and passionate in their roles – I was especially impressed with Williamson-Jones who was constantly dashing around the stage seamlessly transitioning into different characters, vocal changes, and playing different instruments. The jazz solo too was exceptional!

The performance was a brilliant chilled-out watch for my two-year-old. She sat enthralled on her booster seat watching with a level of twinkle in her eye. Us adults also really enjoyed the show, but I couldn’t help but feel that the dog scene could have been improved with a more convincing costume or the incorporation of a puppet which might have added a more realistic touch to the interaction between Stick Man and the enthusiastic dog.

One of my two-year-olds favourite moments was the beach scene, which came with constant laughs and gags. She absolutely loved when the lights came up and Williamson-Jones and Malone had a game of tennis into the audience.

We all thought the ending scene which recaps the show was fantastic too. Without spoiling the show, there are some real lovely moments, and the ending is such a festive delight and comes with some truly wonderful theatre magic for the little ones.

Stick Man at the Royal & Derngate theatre is a must-see for fans of the book and young families during the Christmas season. It is a wonderfully festive piece of theatre.

Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Until 31 DEC
press tickets for review