Review: Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas, Garrick Theatre

2025 was a big year for Maddie Moate’s Curious Christmas which received an Olivier Award nomination. Perhaps appropriately, I was ‘curious’ to find out how and why this came about so the only thing to do was investigate the show for myself! An excited audience of young people and their carers streamed into the Garrick Theatre along with me as I set off on my quest for knowledge.

The music is upbeat and bouncy; the stage is colourful and Christmassy, and we’re just in time for a pre-show quiz which asks playful questions about, amongst other things, the meaning of mistletoe (poo joke there!) and the colour of Santa. Great way to warm up. We soon meet celebrity presenter Maddie Moate, known from YouTube, Cbeebies and Maddie’s Do You Know, who’s on work experience at Santa’s workshop. She’s joined by two elf workers, Kira MacCarter as Tinker and Zain Abrahams as Goggles. We’re also visited by Mrs Claus (Jennie Dale) via video link who wants to know how preparations for that evening’s party are going. And the answer to that is not well, as there are a number of glitches in the workshop that Maddie and the audience, who play the role of a tour group at the workshop, need to examine and solve.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this show courtesy of a huge budget, as well as a kind of pantomime feel to things. The performers are great – really committed to their roles and they keep the energy levels high throughout, engaging well with the audience. Physical comedy brings slapstick laughs, while singing and call and response has families joining in throughout. A huge amount of spectacle involves using almost every possible device to entertain, with snowballs and streamers launched into the auditorium, smoke blasters and even a beautiful snowfall, which makes it real visual value for money. Above all there’s science, with the glitches in the workshop explained away with clear explanations using video projection and close-up camera work that zooms in on how things work. The suggested age range for the show is 4+ and a few of the smaller people around me became a bit distracted at these educational points, but they otherwise loved the spectacular interactions and raced around the auditorium (health and safety nightmare!) to catch snow and bounce balls.

There are many things you could choose to explain the science of. Here, there is a whole section on how sprouts make farts. Christmas themed perhaps, but it’s a little disappointing when a show sets itself up to be on the cerebral side, promoting STEM, and then defaults to a hefty quota of toilet jokes to entertain; it’s not the most imaginative tactic and a slightly sad way to provide easy laughs. Still, there was laughter so it works.

I can’t quite fathom how this show got an Olivier nomination although it is clear that it ticks many of the boxes you might want for a family show at Christmas, with the science bit a good (perhaps slightly insubstantial) hook. The glitzy, big budget effects impress, even if they feel bought in from ‘Theatre Stunts R Us’, and it’s definitely a well-intentioned, successful alternative to a pantomime. To be fair, as I left, several children bounced down the steps singing along to the song ‘Making Sense with Evidence’, so who know? Maybe they’ll be inspired to go home and do just that in the New Year.

Maddie Moate’s Curious Christmas is aimed at ages 4+ and runs at the Garrick Theatre until Sunday 4 January.