After years of the Oddsocks Christmas Panto, The Queen’s Hall in Hexham, recently bucked the trend by commissioning their own offering with a seasonal play A Viking Christmas – neatly tied into the Hexham’s Festival of Flame in 2019. The product was a beautiful Geordie story – weaving in Northumbrian myths and legends to our modern day Christmas. My tween and teen loved it because it was fun and smart. Pagan magic was brought to the stage and a real festive atmosphere was created – it was so successful that it has travelled up to show at the Alnwick playhouse this year (just in case you missed it first time round).
This year, the fab folk at The Queen’s Hall have continued the local, Christmas play theme with The Remarkable Robin Armstrong’s Extraordinary Christmas Adventure, written by award-winning playwright from the North East, Elijah Young.
Robin Armstrong is an adventurous young girl obsessed with all things magic, who lives in a northern mining village famous for its fairy tale and folklore. Join Robin for an extraordinary adventure as she discovers magic and the power of friendship. The show is set in the mines of Northumberland but they’re not the mines we all know. These mines are full of magic and adventure, populated by goblins, wizards and faeries who help and hinder our heroine, so she can find her way home.
Director, Mark Calvert says:
“The message at the heart of this show is the importance of family and holding onto the idea, for as long as you dare, that magic does exist in our sometimes humdrum world. It has all of the ingredients of a great Christmas tale and Elijah and I, along with the rest of the creative team, are working hard to give Queens Hall audiences a proper theatrical treat.”
If you, like me, are allergic to bawdy pantomime, and crave something a little more for a family seasonal outing, then I suggest you try dipping your Christmas slippers into this cosy, feel-good, festive frolic….and the tickets are much more reasonably priced than the usual urban offering.
So be brave. Believe…
The Remarkable Robin Armstrong’s Extraordinary Christmas Adventure is at the Queen’s Hall from 10-28 December and is suitable for all ages. Tickets start from £12, early bird tickets are on sale from 30 September to 4 October. For more information or to book tickets visit www.queenshall.co.uk or call the box office on 01434 652 477.
