This review is for the 2019-20 run for ‘The Pixie and the Pudding’. It returns for Christmas 2022.
Most of London’s glut of seasonal family theatre shows closed on the first weekend of January, but the Little Angel still has plenty of leftovers to go round, with both of its Christmas shows running into February.
Wisely, neither is overburdened by festive tat: returning show for little kids ‘Me…’ is about some penguins, while this newie for ages four to 11 from Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane is Christmas-adjacent rather than actively decking the halls.
Performed entirely by Gilbert Taylor and Nix Wood, ‘The Pixie and the Pudding’ is set on a wholesome rural farm, where Taylor’s almost pathologically good-natured farmer is very kind to his wide array of enthusiastic animals (all puppets designed by Lyndie Wright, most of them manipulated and voiced by Wood). Crucially, he remembers to leave a Christmas pudding out for the local pixie population every Christmas Eve, attributing the farm’s productivity and happiness to getting the enchanted little folk on side.
For unexplained reasons, the nice farmer decides to sell off the entire farm, including all the animals (even the dog, which seems pretty stone cold). The new owner – also played by Taylor – is a single dad from the city who’s brought his youngish daughter (Wood) with him in the hope of a fresh start. He is pleasant enough but clearly not versed in country ways: he doesn’t let the dog in the house, he refuses to call the animals by their names and he thinks it’s silly to leave a pudding out for the pixies, so doesn’t. Cue a year of abject misery as the frustrated fair folk curse his animals and crops, to the sound of some enjoyably faux-angsty blues numbers from Jungr.
Blessed with nice songs and lovely puppets, it is a sweet, edifying show that extols the virtues of being kind and respectful to people, animals and traditions (including pixies). It feels a touch underpowered: the story is simplistic (two turns through the seasons at the farm) and maybe lacks some of the hidden depths or out-and-out eccentricity of the Little Angel at its best. The story is based on a Scandinavian folk tale, but the setting feels unimaginatively English. Still, it’s great as a soothing coda to the gaudy bombast of the festive season; it also serves as a cheering reminder to little audiences that the year is cyclical and that spring, summer, autumn and, indeed, Christmas will all return.
