The Snow Queen Review by Nina Jervis-Green

December 18, 2025

Thanks to Nina Jervis-Green from www.ninathewriter.com for this review.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the big-budget, big-name pantomimes that flood the Christmas schedules every year, The Snow Queen is it. This is a captivating show full of heart and magic, with a story that will resonate long after you’ve left the theatre.

Said story is deftly adapted (by Wind Song Theatre’s Essex-born co-founder and co- producer, Lily Streames) from Hans Christian Andersen’s acclaimed fairy tale, which also went on to inspire classics including The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Frozen. As such, the set is peppered with white, barren trees, and there’s a wintry sense of foreboding as the show begins.

It’s Christmas Eve. 10-year-old Gerda and her best friend Kai are excitedly telling a story by the family fireside, about a ‘Snow Queen’ who can steal souls. But moments later, the story becomes terrifyingly true. Kai is stolen away by the sinister Snow Queen, leaving Gerda to embark on an epic journey to bring him back home.

Along the way, she joins a flower band, meets a friendly Cockney crow, and encounters the magnificent Northern Lights – or “Aurora Bore-bloomin’-alis!” – in an immersive, soulful, and imaginative quest.

There are just five cast members – a fact that stunned Matt, my friend and companion for the evening. (“I thought there were ten different people in that show!” he whispered during the curtain call). Lily Streames, also an award-winning actor, plays Gerda with just the right amount of giddy childish energy, combined with a steely determination that makes you root for her from the start.

Harry Chamberlain plays Kai in an energetic yet vulnerable way that means it’s easy to imagine why the childless Snow Queen wants to claim his soul, and why Gerda fights so hard to rescue him. Loren O’Dair is an intensely commanding Snow Queen, glistening and statuesque, while Benjamin Victor and Roseanna Connolly play multiple roles, each one with distinctive charm, warmth, and charisma.

Everything about this show has been approached with obvious care and attention to detail, which imbues it with gentle quality (even the programme has been thought about, with games and illustrations that children will love). Josh Blows’ extremely clever lighting design transforms those white, barren trees into atmospheric display- screens, so the set morphs beautifully from scene to scene.

The costumes – particularly the Snow Queen’s magnificent tiara and the flower band’s playful regalia – are a joy to behold, and the original songs, by Lily Streames (again!) and Ashton Moore, are both memorable and meaningful. The narration and dialogue flow perfectly, with plenty of laughter-inducing moments and some wonderful turns of phrase (snow falls and glistens like “a million scattered diamonds across the frozen terrain”) that will paint vivid pictures in the minds of adults and children alike.

I also loved the story’s focus on the meaning of friendship. A soft-lit lantern is elevated above the stage while the audience takes their seats, with its meaning revealed as the story unfolds.

While perhaps not suitable for very young children (the recommended age range is six to 106!), The Snow Queen is warmly engaging, deeply creative, and a must-see for lovers of magical storytelling.