A Boy Called Christmas review – Santa’s origin story has to be more wondrous than this | Christmas offers

TIts origin story, about how Saint Nicholas became a gift-giver in the North Pole with an army of elves, began as a children’s book by Matt Haig that was made into a star-studded fantasy film with appearances by Maggie Smith and Jim Broadbent. Now we have the stage adaptation, which sings the tale of young Nicholas.

At the age of eleven, stranded in grief and loneliness after his mother was killed by a bear, his father set out on an expedition to the North Pole to find legendary elven villages. Nicholas (Devon Sandell, performing a press evening and full of energy) follows his father north with his pet mouse Mika (Olivia Deakins), to meet a reindeer named Blitzen (Alexander Sully), the real Pixie (Daisy Chapman), elves, and a swarm of other fantastical creatures.

This is the second musical this theater has recently adapted from a successful film that was itself based on a best-selling book. The first was The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a charming adaptation that will move to the West End next month. The lighting never strikes twice with Philip Wilson’s editing, which is hardly captivating.

Presented by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre, more than 70 young people perform a heroic act. They are a visual delight, whether in their beautiful costumes designed by Ryan Dawson Light or the lively puppets designed by Charlie Thames. Directed by Dale Rocks, and contrasted with Simon Higlett’s mobile theater design of icy waste and flying snowflakes, it’s a shame some adult professionals don’t keep up their part of the bargain.

Wilson’s script is sedate while the songs (music by Tom Brady with lyrics by Brady and Wilson) are monotonous and strangely similar, from the opening number, How Do You Do It, onwards. The choreography remains minimal and almost static, even at times when the story calls for movement, such as during a chase involving a sled, and there are certainly no eye-catching songs and dances.

As a result, there is little emotional appeal or surprise, when the story should be imbued with both elements. And there’s no danger, even when the creepy Bear (George Stanbridge) and the Troll (Jack Walter Nelson) make growling appearances.

To make magic, you have to do it truly We are told to believe in it. This fantasy needs more, to make you believe in the magic of Christmas.