The Globe Theatre stands empty, the stage left bare, the Christmas tree undecorated and we need your help.
Someone has stolen the Magic of Christmas from Snowdrop, the fairy who stands watch during the winter months, protecting our great wooden ‘O’. So gather everyone you know to help comedians Sandi Toksvig and Sindhu Vee and their merry gang find the spirit of Christmas and return it to the Globe.
Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to announce the full company for Christmas at the (Snow) Globe, created and directed by Sandi Toksvig and Jenifer Toksvig, and designed by Charlie Cridlan.
Opening on Thursday 19 December, this brand new production will invite audiences to pack into the open-air theatre wrapped in their warmest Christmas jumpers and let loose their Christmas spirit. To celebrate the spirit of storytelling and the joy of gift-giving, audience members will also be invited to bring a new children’s book to put under the 13-foot Christmas tree on the Globe stage. Books will be donated to children’s charities across Southwark. The Globe Christmas tree has been kindly donated by the Embassy of Denmark, London.
The production will feature integrated BSL, and in a Globe first, will include a touch and scent tour for visually impaired patrons ahead of the Audio Described performance on Saturday 21 December.
The cast will comprise:
Becky Barry: Becky returns to the Globe stage having previously worked on the Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank productions of Much Ado about Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. She combines working as an actor-musician and a qualified BSL/English interpreter. Her other recent theatre work includes The Jungle Book (Derby Theatre), Twelfth Night (Southwark Playhouse) and The Tempest (Royal Exchange).
Stella Duffy: Stella is a writer and theatre-maker. As a stage performer, Stella is an associate artist with Improbable, a member of the comedy improvisation company Spontaneous Combustion, and has guested with The Comedy Store Players. She performed her solo show Breaststrokes in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, York, and Amsterdam. Stella has also authored 16 novels and is the co-director of the Fun Palaces campaign for cultural democracy.
Chris Jarman: Chris was part of the original London and Broadway cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the original London cast for critically-acclaimed West End hits The Book of Mormon and The Lion King. Other theatre work includes Wicked (Victoria Apollo), Huckleberry Finn the Musical (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Comedy of Errors (National Theatre) and The Merchant of Venice (RSC).
Tony Jayawardena: Tony returns to the Globe having appeared in Tanika Gupta’s Lions and Tigers in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Emma Rice’s Twelfth Night in 2017. Other recent theatre work includes Hobson’s Choice (Royal Exchange), White Teeth (Kiln Theatre) and Young Marx (The Bridge). Television includes Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge.
David Perkins: David is Musical Director, Arranger and Musician for Christmas at the (Snow) Globe. As an arranger, David has worked for Faber Music, Oxford University Press, rock band Jethro Tull, and over a hundred musicians, vocalists, orchestras and bands. As a composer, David has written a number of large and small scale choral works and other vocal compositions. Previous theatre credits include Pandemonium!, The Wind in the Willows (Edinburgh Fringe), Just So Stories (Apollo Theatre Company) and Arabian Nights (Story Pocket Theatre).
Mary Price O’Connor: Mary is a musician for Christmas at the (Snow) Globe. She is an interdisciplinary artist and educator working with sound, music, movement and text. Mary became a silent film accompanist in 2003 and has participated as an improviser, deviser and performer across platforms including The Chaosbaby Project with Stella Duffy, Women in Motion with Zosia Jo and is currently a part of Through The Door with Angela Clerkin and Improbable.
Sandi Toksvig OBE: Sandi is well known to UK audiences as a broadcaster, with television credits including celebrated series Call My Bluff (as regular team captain) and Whose Line Is It Anyway? She took over from Stephen Fry as host of QI, BBC2’s fiendishly difficult and hugely popular quiz, and she and Noel Fielding became the new co-hosts of The Great British Bake Off. For a decade Sandi was a familiar voice for BBC Radio 4 listeners as the chair of The News Quiz which led to her induction into the Radio Hall of Fame. Much of Sandi’s time is devoted to writing, with more than 20 fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults to her credit. Her adaptation of Mamma Mia the Party opened at London’s O2 earlier this year. Sandi is an activist for gender equality, and in 2014 she co-founded the Women’s Equality Party.
Jenifer Toksvig: Jenifer is a writer, deviser, director and producer. Theatre work includes spoken word poetry for UNHCR, performed and translated worldwide; immersive, interactive theatre/gaming hybrid shows; a catalogue of musicals for young people to perform (in collaboration with composers David Perkins and Alexander Rudd); stage adaptations of novels by authors including Terry Pratchett, Geraldine McCaughrean and David Almond. Jenifer is an advocate for writers and an active member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain.
Sophie Trott: Sophie is best known for her television work, having appeared in the BBC’s The Pact and as Charlotte Bronte in Being the Brontes. Previous theatre work includes The Last Curiosity (Unseen 199 Festival) and Hitler’s Canary (Watford Palace Theatre/Frederica Theatre). Films include Victoria and Abdul and Bollywood Queen.
Sindhu Vee: Sindhu is a comedy writer and stand-up comedian, whose sell-out solo show, Sandhog, was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards last year. Her television appearances include; QI, Have I Got News For You, and Live At The Apollo. On radio, Sindhu is a regular guest on the Guilty Feminist podcast, has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and The Now Show, and starred in her own series, Sindhustan, for Radio 4. After a sold out run at the Soho Theatre, Sindhu is currently embarking on a UK wide tour.
Louise Voce: Louise is a performer, drummer and ukulele player. Her recent theatre work includes Walking the Chains (Passenger Shed, Bristol), Hitler’s Canary (Watford Palace), Coco (Sadler’s Wells) and Save Your Kisses for Me (Tristan Bates). Recent television work includes The Interceptor (BBC) and Danny Boyle's Babylon (Channel 4). Film includes Starter for Ten.
The cast will also be joined by London’s LGBT+ Classical choir, The Fourth Choir, who will encourage the audience to sing along with all their favourite classic Christmas songs. The Fourth Choir returns to the Globe following their hit appearance in Tom Stuart’s new play After Edward in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse earlier this year. Founded in 2013 to represent the LGBT+ community on London’s classical music scene, The Fourth Choir has performed in Hampton Court Palace and the Thames Tunnel, the British Museum and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Kings Place and the Camden Jazz Café, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome.
Christmas at the (Snow) Globe
Created and directed by Sandi Toksvig and Jenifer Toksvig
Designed by Charlie Cridlan
Music arranged by David Perkins
Thursday 19 – Monday 23 December
Globe Theatre
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES
BSL: throughout the run
Audio Described: 21 December, 2pm
Captioned: 22 December, 2pm and 6pm
