REVIEW: A Boy Called Christmas soars brilliantly on a great night in Chichester

Last year’s Cinderella was the best thing Chichester Festival Youth Theatre had ever done. It was difficult to believe that they could ever possibly better it. And yet they have done at the first attempt – the perfect way to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

Tonight was simply magical, brimful of hope and positivity and the most wonderful message of inclusivity at the end of a tale of poverty, loss and betrayal – but a tale which crucially leads to belief and kindness and, as the penultimate song so beautifully says, Joy And Goodwill.

So often with the youth theatre, part of the fun is the sheer familiarity of the tale they tell. But this year they offer a tale known to far fewer of us – and maybe it’s that lack of familiarity which underscores just how terrific their storytelling is.

A Boy Called Christmas looks great at every turn and the costumes are terrific. The whole thing is a picture. But it is the quality of the performances which allows it to soar.

Telling the back story of a certain familiar festive figure, it offers the tale of Nikolas, a monumental role superbly played by Devon Sandell. He is barely off stage but he carries it magnificently with real presence, fluency, emotion and authority.

It’s a remarkable performance Devon gives as we follow Nikolas on a quest to track down his father who has departed on a questionable mission, a quest Nikolas sets out on with his faithful mouse, beautifully animated by Olivia Dickens. Along the way they pick up new friends including Alexander Solly’s Blitzen, another terrific performance as all the elements of our Christmas start to slip into place.

There’s another lovely performance from Daisy Chapman as the Truth Pixie who delivers wonderfully well what seems certain to be the night’s best song until it is eclipsed in the final few minutes by the sublime Joy And Goodwill with lyrics which sum up the import of the whole evening.

Unusually for a youth theatre production it seems a long time until we get to enjoy the kind of crowded stage which usually so typifies their Christmas productions, but when it comes, it is stunningly done, with absolutely everyone playing their part, everyone so expressive and so meticulously in character.

It feels a much more crowded second half which is when the story, after building slowly in the first, really takes off. Nikolas arrives in Elfhelm, the fabled village of the elves, where he grows up quickly with bitter lessons about just whom you can trust. Tonight playing his father was Dominic Lacey, again excellent.

And let’s not forget great work too from Laila Fletcher as the awful Aunt Carlotta, plus Jack Walter-Nelson and the team animating Sebastian the troll, a genius creation.

As the show moves to its conclusion, it just gets better and better, absolutely enveloping you in its wit and wisdom. Huge credit to director Dale Rooks so gifted at nurturing natural ability and letting it shine.

You walk away in awe of the talents on display here. You walk away filled with the magic of Christmas. And you walk away reflecting on just what a priceless part of Chichester the youth theatre really is.

* There are 71 Youth Theatre members in the cast, aged from ten to 22 years and 25 members of the Technical Youth Theatre backstage. A Boy Called Christmas cast (in alphabetical order): Esme Ackroyd, Joshua Anderson, Charlie Ashdown, Tayla Billinghurst, Tom Blake-Lobb, Amelia Boxall-Tullett, Annalise Bradbury, Libby Bradbury, Oliver Brown-Fuller, Jack Castle, Daisy Chapman, Asha Christie-Verma, Flo Clarke, Teddy Corcoran, Bea Daniel, Amelie Davis, Edie Davis, Indi de Vries, Olivia Dickens, Isla Donaldson, Emerson Fisher, Laila Fletcher, Isaac Frith, Angela Griffiths, Scarlette Guilfoyle, Raefe Hakes, Poppy Hine, Beth Houston, Cyrus Hutton Dallal, Maisie Jackson, Sasha Kramp, Dominic Lacey, Fredi Legg-Willis, Poppy Lloyd, Teddy Mackley, Honor Macmillan, Hugo Marchant-Williams, Reuben McGreevy, Ethan McKimm, Thea Miller, Melody Moles, Willow Moss, Lucas Orchard-Webb, Dylan Paige, Lilly Pearce, Lucy Pitts, Connie Rees, Laurence Roberts, Henry Rooney, Persephone Rustom, Devon Sandell, Martha Saxton, Alexander Solly, Toby Southwood, George Stanbridge, Henry Strong, James Sullivan-Smith, Joel Taylor, Summer Taylor, Thomas Treharne, Brody Van Biene, Sammy van Klaveren, Dolly Vann, Ella-Rose Wakefield, Jack Walter-Nelson, Effie Rose Watson, Benjamin Webb, Daisy Wintle, Isabelle Woodard, Austin Woodward and Dilshad Yilmaz.