The Jolly Christmas Postman  

The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, is a fun, short and sweet story that gets you in the spirit of Christmas. It has live music, original songs, and a cast that look like they actually love their job! Samuel Morgan-Grahame does a wonderful job at being Jolly, appealing to the audience as a likeable protoganist.  

The story follows the Jolly Postman on a mission to deliver his letters to classic Fairytale characters. He meets the Bear family, Little Red Riding Hood, the Gingerbread Boy and Humpty Dumpty in his travels, giving them cards from their friends and family. However, the Postman then must deliver to someone far more sinister, the Big Bad Wolf, who although claims he’s a changed wolf, seems to still have a suspicious air around him. The Postman’s final letters, although, is what gives him the most trouble, as he treks in a harsh snowstorm to reach his destination. 

Photography credit. Robert Day.

If I’m being honest, I walked in thinking I’d be watching a live version of a kid’s TV show, prepared to listen to “can you see where the post box is?” for a few hours. Despite it obviously being aimed at younger children, it was actually an enjoyable play. There is a lot of visual comedy and creative movement, like when the Postman and Little Red are playing an adventure board game. They mimic storms and a magic carpet ride, to name a few, but also use sounds like dice rolling to mime without props. Another good use of this was when the Postman visits the Gingerman Boy and they use oversized props to emphasise how small the Gingerbread Boy is in comparison to J.P. When J.P. drops his tissue, it falls on Gingey like a blanket, and when the Gingerbread Boy hands him a biscuit, he throws his table up. This is all fun, charming comedy that you can’t help but giggle at. 

The best part, however, is when the Postman visits Humpty Dumpty, who has been put back together again- without his arms and legs. There’s some classic theatre fumbling around for the legs, having the audience point out when they pop up behind the hospital curtains, but it’s when they are attached to Humpty that the fun really starts. Humpty dresses like Dizzee Rascal and starts busting a rhyme about how he was broken and now put back together. After the series of egg-cellent egg puns, I wasn’t expecting them to come out with something like that, but I’m so glad they do. Ellen Chivers does an outstanding performance of having the audience in fits of giggles here. Another honourable mention would be Jess Lobo as Goldilocks, who expertly portrayed her as an excitable kid who just can’t slow down. Her reading of her letter is a very creative touch.  

This play has a lot of wholesome themes, and overall, a sweet message. Children would enjoy it, but adults would too, and I appreciate it doesn’t carelessly slap some crude jokes children wouldn’t understand just to appeal to adults. The only thing I’d question is the anti-climax of the Big Bad Wolf. There’s a lot of buildup to visiting his house; even Jolly, who believes he is a changed wolf, is nervous to knock. He opens the door to a very unsettling home, and catches the three pigs running around in fear. Then the Wolf, a man who does not seem to understand personal space, acts creepy for a bit and tells J.P. that the pigs are there to play Hide-and-Seek. Oh! And that they’re waiting for the “main course”. Now at this point, I’d expect some elaboration, because we’ve spent the best part of a half-an-hour leading up to this point exclusively. Maybe the wolf is changed and it’s a fun lesson about how people can grow, or maybe the Postman has to go on a rescue mission, and it’s an equally valuable lesson about not trusting strangers, but no. He just leaves! I’m sorry kids, but BB Wolf is 100% having pork tonight. It just feels a little bit rushed, and doesn’t hold as much importance in the story as they’d hyped it up to be. It was also just too unsettling to be left unresolved.  

On a lighter note, the set itself was absolutely stunning. The fake snow is cute, the big prop gags are funny, and house sets are versatile, reflective of the characters, and overall fun to look at. The costumes are also lovely, especially the bright, fun colours of the Toy Town characters. 

To conclude, the story is (mostly) very nice for children, and still enjoyable for older family members. There has clearly been a lot of effort and thought into the details. The cast are incredibly talented, creating an even more enjoyable experience as you can visibly see them having fun. (Or they’re just even better actors than I thought.) It definitely gets you into the Christmas spirit. So really, should you take your kids here? Absolutely. They will hopefully also love the magic figure at the end…