20 Dec 2025
Deborah Heath is blown away by an exceptional production at the Abbey Theatre from Company of Ten…
One of the best delights you could give your nearest and dearest this Christmas is a ticket to this year’s family seasonal show at the Abbey Theatre. You might decide to put it in a box too and if you do, please decorate it with sparkles to give them a teaser of what they can expect from this glittering production.
Written in 1935 by former Poet Laureate John Masefield and adapted for the stage by present day children’s author, Piers Torday, ‘Box of Delights’ tells the story of orphan boy Kay Harker who returns from boarding school to stay with his aunt at Christmas.
There he reconnects with two similarly misfit children, Maria and Peter. They meet mysterious Punch and Judy man, Cole Hawlings, who entrusts them with a mysterious box of delights.
The children are tasked with keeping it safe from a host of other people who are on its trail, not to mention the wolves. This gives rise of a host of weird and wonderful characters and much comic horseplay in a plot that carefully balances the absurdity of pantomime with a warming traditional children’s adventure story.
I have come to expect outstanding design from Company of Ten over the years but was quite simply blown away by the stage and technical realisation for this show.
Director Beccy Baird explains: “This adaptation demands a hugely complex staging and stagecraft… but we love a challenge at the Company of Ten.”
I can confirm that they rose to this challenge with aplomb. Beccy designed the show herself and the set, beautifully constructed by Cliff Stratford and his team, was authentic-looking and yet practical and moveable – essential for a fast moving plot like this.
The costume team, headed by Clair McCarthy sourced a beautiful range of colourful glitzy outfits for the more outlandish characters while correctly contrasting this everyday wear for the 1930s children.
Special effects, sound and lighting design (and execution) were spot on, enhancing the mood of the developing plot. Use of projection to set the scenes was particularly
effective, with the round screen that signified a window in scene one, becoming a moon to denote outside, a clock inside and much more besides. The shadow play
segment was absolutely enchanting and a highlight of the show for me.
I loved the choice of Christmas Carols as incidental music. ‘Coventry Carol’ in particular, with its haunting melody, made me feel cosy and on edge at the same time which I am sure was the desired effect. With such a large tech team, I hope they will forgive me giving them a group pat on the back.
Props and puppetry from Anthea Buxton and her colleagues were beautiful. I was particularly taken by the marionette used to represent Kay, after he has sipped a shrinking potion. The detail on this puppet was immaculate and the way he his puppeteer walked him across the stage was a joy to behold. There are too many amazing puppets to mention here, but I must urge you to look out for the dog who is convincingly made and operated.
Props, however beautiful need to be more than set dressing – the test of a good ensemble, as we have in this play, is how well they are used. There is some clever direction here including the car-plane with its umbrella wheels and the swimming scene. Moments like this are an outstanding feature of the production and demonstrate a cast held together by great coordination and team work which is credit to them and their director.
The large, hardworking cast comprised actors ranging from their teens to eighties which gave a lovely extended family feel to the show. It felt a little odd that some children were cast as adults and vice-versa but this is not to take away from their strong individual performances and I am sure the director had a good reason for this concept.
I saw the show very early on and in general, scene changes could have been swifter and volume from the company louder but I have every faith that these matters will improve over the run.
Finlay Murphy (Kay), Ilana Honeybourne (Maria)and Chris Vincent (Peter) as our young heroes showed great camaraderie and quickly got their audience on side which was essential for the plot development.
While ‘The Box of Delights’ is not a pantomime, there are many nods to it including the baddies played by Katherine Barry and Russell Vincent who received resounding
hisses and boos from the audience. This funny pair were well supported by Lianne Weidmann as Rat and Amy Wedgewood as Head who projected well and drew out the comedy correctly.
With such a large cast I cannot mention everyone but would like to commend Nadiath Adjibade (Herne), Dewi Williams (Mayor) and Ian Pritchard (Bishop) who really owned their space and characters well.
If your children are below junior age, it is worth noting the first act of ‘The Box of Delights’ is over an hour. The second is shorter with bigger visuals to keep them entertained.
If you do not already know the plot, I would strongly advise paying close attention to the beautiful shadow puppet scene which explains the back story.
‘The Box of Delights’ is quite simply a spectacular show where Company of Ten’s signature outstanding design realisation exceeds that of many professional productions.
Director Beccy Baird should be proud of achieving her intention of achieving “joy, wonder and quite a few laughs”.
