Written by: Ella Wholey
December 2025
This festive season, Theatre Royal Plymouth is home to perhaps one of the most beloved and widely known people in the world, Father Christmas.
Through a seamless and enchanting performance, co-produced with Olivier Award-nominated Pins & Needles Productions, the classic Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas is effortlessly brought to life in the theatre’s intimate Drum stage – simultaneously stirring up festive excitement for the children and calming Christmas nostalgia for the adults. The show features an imaginative and well-crafted set, excellent live soundscape creation and masterful puppetry, along with charming acting, which combine to tell the story of Father Christmas’ huge yearly task of delivering gifts to every corner of the globe.
We first meet a sleepy Father Christmas in the North Pole, but as he is awoken from dreams of sun, sea and sand, it becomes clear, to his dismay that there is no time for rest, today is his busiest day of the year… Christmas Eve. Alongside his affectionate animals; cat, dog and the reindeers, he prepares to take flight across the world. After he finally sets off, the festive cheer builds as he ventures across uneven rooftops and down sooty chimneys in a brilliantly engaging sequence of scenes, sparking laughs and excitement. Once every glass of milk has been drunk and every stocking has been filled, he makes his return to his cosy cottage for a much-deserved roast dinner and relaxation with his loving pets – ending with a sleepy Father Christmas all tucked back up in bed.
For me, the show embodies the love and warmth of the season, especially that you experience as a child, and so is the perfect way to get into the festive spirit or to keep it alive in the peaceful period that follows the big Christmas day. Running in The Drum at Theatre Royal Plymouth until 28 December 2025, the show is a must watch for the whole family this festive holiday season.