Hurtwood Christmas Show 2025: And now for something completely different!

Welcome to a new era in Hurtwood Theatre: make way for Rob Holt, fresh from the BRIT School and ready for the challenges of a new stage and a whole bunch of Hurtwood talent. Wisely choosing not to challenge the Titans (Mike, Andy, Clive, Doug) who have preceded him in directing the iconic Christmas musical, get ready the stage – or should I say ring? - for Pippin.  A little-known ‘concept piece’ from the early 1970s, it explores the array of life-choices on what sounds like a kind of Homeric journey of experiences through a series of ‘chapters’, each of which offer different outcomes.  Building towards a dramatic finale, set roughly in the 1970s, but bedded into powerful 2025 issues, including the dangers of social media, influencers, and material versus emotional choices, this sounds like a fascinating challenge.

Rob had decided on ‘Pippin’ even before taking up his new role, loving the breadth of innovation that it offered and relishing the opportunity to shape the performance around the individual talents that students brought to the roles.  Talking fast (in between tech rehearsals) and passionately (always), Rob outlines the challenge that have at times hampered this play, but relishes the opportunity to push against audience expectations, asking us to think, even as we enjoy the laughter and spectacle.

All sounding a bit deep?  Worry not – it has ‘great music’ Guy tells me. Having heard it reverberating round the walls and halls of Hurtwood over the last few months, that I already know.  With its 70s vibes, there is room for folksy rhythms alongside unabashed rock'n'roll, and the occasional quieter, stripped-back ballad.  And with the legendary Bob Fosse involved in the original production, I am anticipating fantastic choreography and some seriously sexy numbers.

In Rob’s version, the central character – the ‘Leading Player of the Troupe’ – has morphed into three girls, the ‘main curators’ of the play.  A kind of latter-day Greek chorus interacting with audience response, they break the 4^th wall in full Brechtian fashion, constantly challenging the audience to enjoy spectacle and experience even while being forced to think about art’s relevance in the world. They also bring – you will be very pleased to hear – a definite Kit Kat Club vibe in sexy black satin, heels and bowlers, all musical theatre seduction and allure, as they push our hero forward in his quest for fulfilment.

So, notes from the other side of the Dress Rehearsal.  Impressive.  This is ambitious and thought-provoking entertainment indeed, with, as it constantly promises, an ending that ‘you’ll not forget’.  Funny, fast-moving and in a glorious array of costumes, all primary colours, neons, stripes and spots, there’s enough energy here to fire up a generator (which might have been useful at one point in this winter weather rehearsal).

Once you grasp the central story that Pippin, newly educated and idealistic, is searching for the secret of a meaningful life, we can relax into his excursions into the world of war, power, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Well – something like that. This is Hurtwood after all, and it’s very tastefully – indeed cleverly – done.

With musical set pieces to make the heart soar, a stage full of extraordinary voices and amazing performances, and all of these just beginning to find their form together, things are looking good.  Only by the end – and I’m not about to give it away – do you realise why there is a kind of blank simplicity to the set, a sense of the ephemeral circus tent, which is brought to life by the joyful players on it.  Only by the end.

Switch off your phones, Ladies and Gentlemen.  Step into the Hurtwood Ring.  Enjoy the show.  Here be magic; here be lots of fun; here be important truths.