Special Delivery | Cumbernauld Theatre Co, Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera
Music by Karen MacIver, Written by Clive King, Directed by Dougie Irvine
Presented by Cumbernauld Theatre Company, Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera
Cumbernauld Theatre | 6 December 2024 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Special Delivery is a beautiful new festive children’s production for ages 3 - 7. Using a mixture of live piano, joyful songs, dynamic storytelling and impressive projected amination, Special Delivery presents a bagful of goodies to keep your little ones entertained this Christmas.
Produced in-house at Cumbernauld Theatre at Lanternhouse in a co-production with Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera, Special Delivery is a high quality, heartwarming tale that's filled with playful magic and wonder.
Eve (Jessica Donnelly) is writing her letter to Santa when both it and she are wooshed up the chimney. Santa (Craig Hunter) is surprised to find that a tiny guest has arrived on his busiest night of the year! But it's Christmas Eve and Santa must travel around the world to deliver presents. He has no choice but to take Eve with him; so she joins him on a magnificent adventure that she hopes will lead her home.
Special Delivery is a 45 minute long, single act musical play aimed at the very youngest of theatre audiences. How difficult it is to entertain toddlers for 5 minutes, let alone 45! But wow Cumbernauld Theatre, Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera have come up with the perfect recipe for infant-enchanting festive magic. I was surrounded by spontaneously clapping, cheerful babies. It's the most precious and delightful audience reaction I've ever witnessed.
The two performers in Special Delivery are exquisite. Highly animated and oh so expressive - it must be exhausting to maintain that level of exaggerated performance for so long, but they never once faded.
Craig Hunter and Jessica Donnelly act, sing, play musical instruments, manage puppets, interact with sketch pads and oodles of engaging props - and just when you think Special Delivery can't bewitch you anymore, out comes the stunning, massive piece of high quality animation. If your child is fascinated by a big TV, they will be over the moon at the size of the screen and of the characters on screen in this production. I am someone with a short attention span and very poor eyesight, so I was just as delighted as the babies.
Special Delivery introduces an inspired character named Scribble the Bear. Scribble is a genius creation, and his purpose in Santa's workshop makes perfect sense. If someone were to make a 'Scribble the bear' toy and sell it in the lobby, I'm sure every child leaving the theatre would want one to take home.
Scribble and all the other fantastic characters in the show, including Santa himself, are brought to life by Jessica and Craig. Craig plays the piano and - as you would expect in a co-production with Scottish Opera - the music and songs composed by Karen MacIver with words by Clive King - are all beautiful. The music provides a pleasing backdrop to this intimate show and ensures that the atmosphere is constantly warm and relaxed. Kids make noises - it's fine and expected. Squeals of delight and whispered questions were frequent, welcome and adorable.
Special Delivery is something special. It has been explicitly designed to entertain the toughest of audiences and the harshest of critics - the under 7's. But as someone who is very much older than that but still young at heart, I found it to be a delightful, uplifting, perfectly-pitched piece of festive theatre ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Special Delivery is at Cumbernauld Theatre now until Sunday 29 December 2024. Tickets are unbelievably just £5 - £10! See full dates & ticket details here.
🎅 Also on now at Cumbernauld Theatre: Pinocchio for ages 7+ Read my review of Pinocchio here
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Special Delivery CAST
Craig Hunter
Jessica Donnelly
Special Delivery CREATIVE
Composer – Karen MacIver
Writer – Clive King
Director – Dougie Irvine
Presented by Cumbernauld Theatre Company, Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera
📸 production photo credit: Sally Jubb
Special Delivery listings & booking details
Cumbernauld Theatre at Lanternhouse
Saturday 30 November – Sunday 29 December (Various Times)
Run Time 40 mins. No interval.
Audio Described Performance on Sat 14 December, 1.00pm
BSL Signed Performances on Sat 21 December – Sun 22 December, 13.30am, 1.00pm
Relaxed Performance on Sat 21 December – Sun 22 December, 13.30am, 1.00pm
🎟️ Ticket prices: £5 - £10
For tickets and full listings information call the box office on 01236 732887 or visit https://lanternhousearts.org
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