A FAIRYTALE FOR CHRISTMAS
Dominion Theatre
★★★
“we are delightfully thrown off track with diversions into traditional Irish numbers and some rousing instrumental breaks”
I’ve never experienced New York at Christmas, but I have many fond memories of celebrating the festive season in Dublin. From the Liffey, through O’Connell Street, and down Grafton Street to St Stephen’s Green, the lure of the pubs is irresistible with their warmth and sweat as locals, and strangers, bustle together. Fiddles, bodhrans and whistles barely drowning out the lilting babble, and the Guinness spilling from raised glasses as freely as the ‘craic’ is flowing. The long-running, touring concert – “A Fairytale for Christmas” – recreates the experience. But on its extended pub crawl, it has misguidedly stumbled into a venue too large to capture fully the intimacy of its intentions. But, hey, the energy from the thousand or so revellers in the auditorium, matched by the earthy pizazz of the performers up on the vast Dominion stage, seem to just about pull it off.
We’re not in the Fair City, judging by the vast backdrop, but in Central Park. A pop-up bar is open round the clock, to which the city’s drinkers and dancers and musicians are drawn. By the way, ‘this show is in no way based on, endorsed by, or affiliated or associated with the song titled Fairytale of New York…’. Despite this disclaimer in the advertising copy, there is a sanitised nod to the late, great Shane MacGowan. And, of course, the song does appear. How could it not?
Master of ceremonies is Shane Morgan (a close namesake to The Pogues’ leading man, especially if you slur your words). Morgan is credited as the Narrator. A loose job description unless you feel that being reminded repeatedly what city, and what season, you are in constitutes a good story. But he is in fine voice as he leads the core troupe of singer/musicians through their paces. They are literally (and it sounds like the opening of a joke) the Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman. Respectively, Oliver Cave on guitar, Peet Jackson on banjo and Caitlin Forbes on fiddle. All of them seasoned singers, along with soloist Molly Farmer who ups the quartet into a quintet. Swirling around the whirlwind of musical medleys are the dancers, brilliantly skilled, sassy and versatile; mixing traditional Irish stepdance with more contemporary Riverdance style choreography. A bit of MT and tap thrown in, along with glorious stagecraft courtesy of choreographer Leanne Kyte. Dave Richardson’s lighting and AV design is magical, spotlighting the glorious (uncredited) display of costume too. With Creative Director, Ged Graham, at the helm, the show is quite a spectacle.
The song list sets off on a predictable course. Santa Claus is coming to town, while we wish it could be Christmas every day (surely Santa’s going to protest). We are simultaneously driving home for, and stepping into, Christmas. You get the drift. But we are delightfully thrown off track with diversions into traditional Irish numbers and some rousing instrumental breaks, interspersed with a couple of quieter moments. Violinist Forbes’ intimate rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ is a highlight, while Cave gives us a haunting ‘Peace on Earth’, enriched by the harmonies of the ensemble. Unfortunately, an awful lot of the singing is lost in a gruelling and muddy sound mix. The bass drags the harmonies down into its silty undertow while the kick drum persistently paces behind the scenes – particularly during a bizarre arrangement of Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ – as though the giant from the ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ panto down the road is pounding the walls, smelling the blood of an Englishman (and Irishman and Scotsman – oh, and Spanish… there’s a token of Flamenco added to the evening’s mix to give the required cosmopolitan feel).
By the time we reach the semi-eponymous finale number, MacGowan’s poignant lyrics are long buried underneath what resembles a raucous Saturday night chucking out time. Who knows who is singing what; but who cares? We’re loving it. The crowd are on their feet; phone flashlights are waving through the night air (I remember when it used to be cigarette lighters) and the resounding cry of ‘Yes!’ follows Morgan’s encore offer of ‘one for the road’. Like Santa, this show in London is a one-nighter. But if you’re quick you could catch it up in another town. And hopefully a smaller venue. It needs more of the intimacy of a spit and sawdust pub, not a cold, cavernous hall. But our hearts have still been warmed by the high energy display of tradition, wit, music and dance.
A FAIRYTALE FOR CHRISTMAS
Dominion Theatre then UK Tour continues
Reviewed on 23rd November 2025
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Prestige Productions
Previously reviewed at this venue:
PUNK OFF! | ★★★★ | March 2025
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA | ★★★★★ | November 2024
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW | ★★★★ | September 2024
GREASE | ★★★★ | May 2022
