Sarah Mayhew Craddock is charmed by a show to warm the heart

Part of the joy of Oxford’s Story Museum is that, upon entering, you never know what you’re going to get – only that it’s sure to be fantastically imaginative, outrageously good fun, and mind-bogglingly brilliant.

As such, it came as no surprise to learn that their seasonal production, Winter’s Tales, was no exception.

With only pennies and pine cones in their pockets, Nick Rochester (aka The Story Museum’s caretaker – in this production, at least), and his very cute and very squeaky little friend, Winter Mouse, set about to find a way to “deck the hall” or, more accurately, a modest corner of the museum.

Transformation of the greatest scale took place as the audience was swept up in the sparkle of a large-scale musical delivered by one man and a mouse. In short, this was an exceptionally good production.

After directing 18 highly-acclaimed pantos at the Oxford Playhouse, Tish Francis told how she had been itching to create a Christmas production for The Story Museum since becoming co-director at the museum; and while her 2015/16 production is vastly pared down in comparison to a large-scale panto, it possessed all the same charm, spirit, jovial humour, music, laughter and pace that one could possibly hope to find in a festive production.

It featured three favourite stories, embracing themes of festive transformation and the cycle of nature and the seasons, wrapped up with music, song and laughter by Paul Tonkin.

Tonkin was wonderful, in the literal sense of the word. The tuneful, energetic, engaging and interactive caretaker takes his audiences on a journey through stories: The Spider’s Christmas, Twas The Night Before Christmas and The Little Fir Tree, seamlessly sliding in songs for the young and young at heart, that had our party humming all the way home (and into the night).

Involving the audience to help create atmosphere, Tonkin’s infectious enthusiasm gripped the audience as he made smart, and fast-paced use of a small, simple set; his captivating storytelling littered with interesting facts all of which added up to a most enjoyable show, for children and adults alike.