Absolute must see Christmas comedy with a twist. This show is something special.
Glacier is a festive comedy with a twist, written by Alison Spittle. Its premise is simple with a story driven forward by cleverly unique characters; three women meet, every Christmas day, to swim at a lake, an unofficial tradition they’ve created. All three characters, Dawn (played by Debra Baker), Lucy (Emma Lau), and Jools (Sophie Steer), are completely their own and distinctive in personality without becoming a stereotype or a caricature of themselves. All three were a joy to watch, and entirely engaging.
The show is made up of a scenes depicting the same day, Christmas Day, in the same place, the lake, every year over a number of years. This resulted in watching the cast enter and exit the stage many times, and yet, at no point did this create a feeling of being adrift or bored. Each time the lights went down some music would play, with news headlines or speeches as well, to help you get a sense of which year was being portrayed next which worked brilliantly.
The costumes were simple, everyday, and effective – they fit well with the realism that the deeply three-dimensional characters created. The set design was clever and also simple, so it felt complimentary to the cast and fit well within the space. Specific lighting was used to indicate when the cast were swimming underwater. Not only the lighting indicated this, but so did office swivel chairs! The cast would sit on them and push off with their legs, in various positions, to get to one side of the space to the other. The various positions were used to indicate the stroke being swum, there was even a butterfly stroke!
The humour felt incredibly British, in a deadpan way, and was packed in at exactly the right moments with the necessary subtlety for some moments of the show. The topics, even the difficult ones, were handled incredibly sensitively and appropriately for the show without feeling as though anything was dwelled on.
At its heart, Glacier is a story about the complexity of human relationships, and this is at the forefront of our minds particularly during the festive period. Over the course of the performance, you watch a beautiful friendship develop between the three women and explore those certain emotions which come with Christmas time. You see how life often takes dramatic and unexpected turns, that can’t always be explained.
This show was truly something special, I laughed, I was shocked, I was deeply saddened, and I was touched. Glacier is a gorgeous Christmas story about love, family, and loss, not just a story set on Christmas Day. Glacier is showing at the Old Fire Station in Oxford. Get your tickets here.