Review: A Christmas Fair

The Milton Rooms, Malton

To get Jim Cartwright to write you a show, specifically for what is essentially a town hall, is a sign that you’re doing something right.

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Garry Cooper and Nick Bagnall, artistic directors of The Milton Rooms are inspiring all kinds of good people to get behind their venture of turning this grand venue into a producing theatre and with this production they have earned a significant flagpole in their journey towards success. Cartwright, the man behind The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and a host of other major successes, has written A Christmas Fair to sit in The Milton Rooms. Rather than work against the space – that was not built for drama – he makes a virtue of it and writes a story around a fair that might easily be held in the building, selling crafts and bric-a-brac. Once he’s created the construct he places some very amusing tropes – a miserable caretaker, local busybody, a vicar – in the middle of the story. Cartwright sets up the characters before pulling the rug from under the audiences and inverting all expectations. The second act, monologue heavy, is a little leaden footed, but pays tribute to the craft of storytelling – an entirely fitting thing to do at this magical time of the year.

To December 23.

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