NORTHERN Stage have a strong tradition of creating amazing Christmas shows, this year with the return of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice written by Laura Lindow, this is no different making a great change from the usual panto.
The opening of the show introduces us to an ancient magical force as an introduction to the show it’s incredibly powerful and drew me in immediately meaning I was completely engrossed throughout.
Hatty Rabbit, Beth Crame is the 13th child, born on Christmas Day. The story begins with Hatty at 13, before it recounts the story of her life, before returning to her at 13. Hatty’s Mam, Alice Blundell dies after giving birth to the 13 children, which means Hatty ends up living with Aunt Primula Fudge, Heather Dutton, who is perfectly over the top. After sending Hatty away to school, she becomes best friends with Evie Speak, Talia Nyathi. When she is 12 she receives a letter to invite her as an apprentice to the Sorcerer Hopkin Hopkins, Nick Figgis. Where the magic continues and she finds out all about her powers.
The villain in the story is Canopus Sly, Jessica Johnson, who is cool and classic with evilness you want to hate, but love as she hunts for the 13th child. The puppetry of Rats by Matthew Nicholson is so delightful and loved by the younger children.
The set designed by Amanda Mascarenhas is exceptional. But my highlight was the music from Katie Doherty, I’ve been a fan of her music for many years and her music is absolute perfection as it enhances the production.
This is a brilliant Christmas treat for all the family with an incredibly talented and hardworking cast.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice runs until Saturday 7th January 2023 at Northern Stage
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
