Slava's Snowshow (Over 5s)

If you’ve never seen this beautiful stage show and you haven’t felt a sense of childlike wonder for years, you really should go and see ‘Slava’s Snow Show’. More than perhaps any other, this is likely to take you back to being a kid again, when a trip to the theatre was something really special and your heart filled up with joy at the magic.

But before you frantically try to think which under 10s you can take as an excuse to buy a ticket, let’s get two big stumbling blocks out of the way first. Take a deep breath. Here goes. It’s a show based mainly around mime - and it’s performed by clowns.

Hello? Still there? Good! Don’t close the page yet because, if you can get passed these two hurdles, you’re in for a treat.

Unlike the horrors that usually come to mind with the words ‘mime’ and ‘clown’, this show is based on traditional Russian interpretations of these arts, and the man behind the show, Slava Polunin, is a master craftsman of them. Think more in the tradition of silent cinema and you’ll be on the right track. The theme of snow brings together what's basically a series of sketches; some of the show is comical but with a sense of tragedy, some of it is dark in that fairytale way that haunts. It all looks simply stunning.

There are three parts that leave you lost for words. The finale, though, is one of the most breathtaking things you're ever likely to see, children and adults looking up in wonder, tears in their eyes. Everyone is a child again.