The Queens Hall theatre in Hexham doesn't do traditional when it comes to Christmas shows.
For the past three years, there hasn't been a pantomime at the independent theatre in the North East's happiest place to live. Last year's the Remarkable Robin Armstrong's Extraordinary Christmas Adventure (performed this year at the Alnwick Playhouse) was a tender tale of a young girl from a North East mining village battling her everyday anxieties while trying to get her head around her grandma's advancing dementia.
It was beautifully executed and tackled heavy themes with sensitivity and lightness. So, this year's rendition of The Wind and The Willows which will be performed at The Alnwick Garden in summer 2023, had a lot to live up to - though as the shows are so completely different a direct comparison wouldn't be fair.
