The Velveteen Rabbit review

The reimagined setting, colourfully designed by Diana Ennis, is a child’s nursery in 1980s Northern Ireland, a time and place that offer recognisable historical context and nostalgic cultural references. The ruler of the roost is Wee Man (a chirpy Tara Wilkes), a spoilt boy who constantly switches his affections between a random collection of toys: a bossy robot (Rosie Barry), a neon-orange space hopper (Allison Harding), a know-all jack-in-the box (Darren Franklin) and a rabbit from the wild wood (Reuben Browne). While the spectre of consignment to the dump looms distantly, their enclosed little kingdom is a comforting, safe space. But when night falls, the toys grow life-sized and their individual characters erupt into a storm of petty squabbles, rivalries and mischievous pranks.

Into this madcap world lands an innocent, cuddly rabbit (Jack Watson), whose misplaced longing to be real turns a story about the power of love into a multi-layered, cautionary tale. Carson’s edgy dialogue and Wilson’s complex songs are both jaunty and sophisticated, making few easy concessions to the younger target age of the audience.

The highly focused ensemble cast are talented instrumentalists who, under Garth McConaghie’s musical direction and Eileen McClory’s bouncy choreography, make a right song and dance out of the twists and turns of the unravelling plot line. Barry delivers a terrific double whammy as a robotic automaton and the sarcastic Fairy of Nursery Magic. Harding is touchingly wise and world-weary as the threadbare Skin Horse, while Watson’s clumsy, whey-faced Rabbit juggles his existential dilemma with naive confusion.

For all the latest reviews from The Stage, sign up to our weekly reviews newsletter here