Norden Farm's Christmas show 'Miki' is an enchanting journey of discovery

Norden Farm’s Christmas show ‘Miki’ is a rather enchanting journey of discovery featuring our heroine Miki and her friends Penguin and Polar Bear.

We follow the journey of the trio of friends as they embark on an adventure in search of a star. It takes Miki to the bottom of the ocean where she meets a host of colourful characters including a line-dancing crab, a narwhal, shimmering sea creatures and a rather enormous squid.

My two children were transfixed from the moment Miki and her friends came into view at the top of a snow-capped mountain and slalomed their way down the mountain to the front of the stage. The three characters – and the underwater creatures they meet on their journey – were brilliantly manoeuvred and voiced by the show’s expert puppeteers, Georgie Murphy, Rob Astillo and Sophie Wilkinson.

We were booked in for a relaxed showing of the Christmas show that’s being put on by Slot Machine at the Norden Farm Centre of the Arts and it’s fair to say the audience were captivated by what is a rather lovely tale of friendship, courage, and adventure.

Their search for a star leads to Miki being hooked into a magical underwater world where she interacts with a range of beautiful and colourful sea creatures, all very different to the friends she’s left behind on the land. Penguin and Polar Bear bravely set off to rescue their friend, however, just when they start to believe she might be lost forever, they’re reunited with the help of Miki’s amazing new friends.

The show - which runs until Saturday, December 30 - was first performed at Norden Farm in 2011 before touring the UK a year later. It is based on the book by illustrator Stephen Mackey – who gave them permission to adapt the book for stage – and is accompanied by original music scored by Nick Tigg.

Slot Machine have previously run Christmas shows at Norden Farm, including Kipper’s Snowy Day by Mick Inkpen and One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth.

The performance on Wednesday 20 December at 2pm will be signed. There is another relaxed performance on Wednesday, December 27 (11am) for families with babies or toddlers and children with SEND.

Tickets are available from the Box Office on 01628 788997 or online at www.nordenfarm.org

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Slot Machine are Fiona Creese, Nick Tigg and Nicola Blackwell. They make ambitious multi-disciplinary work for all ages, and collaboration, access and inclusion are at the heart of everything they do.

Miki is played by actor and puppeteer Georgie Murphy. Georgie trained at Guildford School of Acting and Identity School of Acting. She has performed with the British Touring Shakespeare Company as Hero in Much Ado About Nothing and Laura Lyons in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  Further stage credits include Rough Magic (Verona Shakespeare Fringe Festival), As You Like It (Shakespeare's Globe), and Hedda (Oxford Playhouse).

Rob Astillo is Polar Bear. Rob is an actor musician from South London specialising in creating dynamic and exciting theatre and television for young audiences. Rob has toured nationwide and has performed and facilitated in social issue-based shows in schools and theatres in a variety of areas.

Penguin is played by Sophie Wilkinson who trained at Italia Conti (BA Hons). Sophie performed her puppetry debut with Slot Machine playing Pig in Kipper’s Snowy Day (The Berry Theatre). Her other theatre credits include Treasure Island (Hazlitt Theatre), As You Like It (OVO), An Act of Care (HOME), Road Kill (Theatre 503).