The Secret of Christmas Eve at Oldham Library – Review

Tickets gifted for review

On Tuesday night, at around the time I would normally be putting Amy to bed, I snuck her out for a festive theatre adventure – just the two of us. She was very excited for her special treat and had been talking about it for days.

Nestled in the heart of Oldham Library is the cutest little performance space, a teeny tiny theatre that I hadn’t even realised existed until we arrived to take our seats for the very first night of “The Secret of Christmas Eve“. The seats are actually benches, and as such are not numbered, you just sit where you can – and thanks to a bit of a mad dash to find somewhere to park, Amy and I only arrived just before the show was starting so we didn’t have much choice about where we sat. Thankfully it mattered not as the raised benches mean and super intimate space, mean that everyone is going to be able to get a good view.

The Secret of Christmas Eve

“A snowy night, a magical adventure and a little girl who unwraps a secret that will change Christmas forever. With enchanting characters, original music and filled with breathtaking on-stage magic this show will be a perfect festive treat.”

The Secret of Christmas Eve, presented by Oldham Theatre Workshop’s Professional Company and Oldham Library’s live@thelibrary opened on Tuesday night and runs until 28th December 2019 – tickets are £8

This beautiful, festive play has been written by Sarah Nelson (Associate Write at Oldham Theatre Workshop) and James Atherton (Director of Oldham Theatre Workshop) and is performed by a cast of five adults each taking on a variety of roles throughout the show, and supported by three children playing elves – these girls were amazing and I must give special mention to the youngest who definitely won of the hearts of the audience!

One of the things I loved most about The Secret of Christmas Eve was that it was an entirely new story to us – it was packed with magic, humour (Brian the Elf was definitely my favourite) and festive fun but interwoven with more serious themes of loneliness, a sense of belonging, selflessness and adoption – I must admit I came close to sheding a tear at the end of the story but I won’t spoil it for you!

The performance is recommended for ages 4 and up – Amy, at 6, loved it – some of the trickier messages and references went over her head but this is a sign of quality writing and performance to my mind. Amy was fascinated by Digby the dog and thought Brian the Elf was hilarious – she loved watching out to see where he would appear from next, whereas I was more focused on the things going on in the background relating to Eve’s family life.

The props, the costumes, the music were all fantastic – there was so much to see and to take in that we were both full absorbed in what was going on on stage – Amy was so excited by everything and I had to keep reminding her she shouldn’t be talking while people were acting as it was rude!

We both left the theatre feeling all warm and fuzzy and enjoyed chatting about our favourite bits of the performance. I can’t quite remember what time the show finished – but it was long enough to need an interval and was definitely a late night for Amy on a school night. If you are taking really little ones I’d definitey recommend a matinee!

If you’re looking for a festive treat, we definitely recommend The Secret of Christmas Eve!

If you’re looking for places to visit Father Christmas in the Manchester area, why not check out our round up or if you’re looking for festive days out in Manchester you’ll find our recommendations here!