REVIEW: THE SNOW QUEEN at Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick, until 4 January 2025

‘intimate venues such as this bring a particular type of magic to storytelling for children’ ★★★★

The team at the Tabard have been a safe pair of hands over the last few years when it comes to family Christmas plays. An alternative to Pantomimes, classic children’s books are brought to life on the stage. Previous productions include Stig of the Dump and Five Children and It, and the successful formula is repeated this year, again with Louise Haddington adapting for stage and Simon Reilly directing. 

This time the source material is Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. This classic story, or rather an echo of it, will be familiar to younger audiences through the Disney smash hit Frozen, which, for all its merits, alters the story beyond recognition. The original story is darker and haunting. A goblin constructs an enchanted mirror that distorts and brings out peoples’ bad and ugly aspects. But as the goblin takes the mirror up towards the angels it shatters and the shards scatter across the earth, directed by the Snow Queen, draining the humanity from people wherever they land. 

Gerda (Rosie Kahlon) and Kai (Cameron Chalmers) are playing in the snow when one of these shards lands in Kai’s eye, changing his personality. He is eventually lured to the Snow Queen’s (Freya Crompton) castle. This initiates a quest as Gerda searches for her friend, encountering a series of obstacles. Kahlon is superb as Gerda and is pretty much ever-present on stage. Maeve Elmore and Caitlin Wood provide strong support in a variety of roles and, in Wood’s case, as puppeteer too. The set design (Rob Miles) is imaginative, especially the icy hinterland occupied by the Snow Queen.

The production is enjoyable and lives up to previous family productions at the Tabard, although the second act is perhaps a little too long for some younger members of the audience. It walks the line well in terms of being festive but not directly about Christmas. Moreover, intimate venues such as this bring a particular type of magic to storytelling for children. My two daughters, veteran children’s theatre reviewers for LPT, are now 10 and 12, and enjoyed The Snow Queen, especially the younger one, although the older one is reaching the age where such productions have less appeal.   

Despite Storm Darragh resulting in terrible weather in West London this weekend, The Snow Queen provides plenty of festive cheer, and the cast are very engaging in bringing this classic story to life. It is well worth a visit for all the family.   

Photography: Charlie Flint

THE SNOW QUEEN based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted by Louise Haddington. Directed by Simon Reilly.

Produced by Take Note Theatre Ltd

Playing at Theatre at The Tabard 29 November - 4 January 2025 

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