Review: The Elves and the Shoemaker at The Mac, Belfast

The Elves and the Shoemaker is a truly magical experience. This family orientated musical will definitely get everyone in the Christmas spirit this year.

Local theatre company, Cahoots NI have outdone themselves this time with such an incredible use of talent coming from such a small cast with 6 leads taking on multiple roles.

The production follows the story of a doting couple who run a shoe shop in their small village, the villain (Emer McDaid) is their landlady who is always chasing them for rent even when they are struggling through desperate times she won’t back down! Then the three elves attempt to save the day for this humble couple by using their magical elf powers – Fiona Carty, Aisling Groves-McKeown and Jolene O’Hara all bounce off each other with maximum amounts of energy to ensure the audience are engaged for the full 2 hours of the play. These elves use magic appearing to be real due to the clever use of set and lights. Design is a very important element in the play, the use of red LED’s and small fireworks on stage enhance the real sense of magic. This was something you don’t expect from a local production in the MAC theatre.

The MAC is a beautiful venue with a warmth on entry from the lively music pre-show. This show was an overall success by Paul Bosco McEneaney and his crew between set, lights, costume, choreography and raw talent from the cast this is definitely a show not to be missed. Everything has been so well put together and the script on top of excellent acting skills turned this lovely Christmas musical into a real heart warming performance where we feel pathos for Bet (Clare Barnett) and Stan (Sean Kearns) the lovely couple throughout due to their struggle in the play and near homelessness, to the finale when the whole cast come together, after Miss Perkins changes her ways and corrects her wrongs, the audience leave feeling humbled. I left the MAC with a huge grin on my face while the chorus songs repeated themselves in my head!Use of Herbal purchasing this cheap cialis Red ginseng, more popularly known as cialis and is known to remove the erectile dysfunction problem and seeking for an economical remedy.

This definitely is a show worth watching if you’re looking for a family orientated, lively musical to get you in the Christmas spirit this year.

Lauren Shankey