THE Christmas show in Theatre 2 at Harlow Playhouse has now become an integral part of the Christmas season.

Being in Theatre 2, it is much more intimate and personal.

As part of the layout, there are little mats put out at the front. They are for the little ones and were all used and helped create a lovely atmosphere.

The whole play involving Jack, Lily, their father and of course, Santa, involves the search for snow.

The actors playing Jack and Lily create so much energy, so much ability and were clearly much loved figures.

But what this play cleverly does is bring in a number of important themes such as recycling, global warming and caring for our planet, without labouring the subject. It feels natural. This performance had a large group from Hare Street. Afterwards, we spoke to teachers, who told us this was a natural part of their education.

In many ways, this was quite a traditional Christmas offering with building rockets and inventions.

The musical numbers were lovely and as we said, it was the sheer energy that impressed us and the whole audience.

You could tell that this really set up families, across the generations, for Christmas.

There was also a clever use of space that was used by Santa and the father.

Harlow Playhouse prides itself on being the place where magic happens and on this December morning, this was so true. The foyer was lit up, the main theatre was packed as Sleeping Beauty played, the cafe was also busy and upstairs was the Snow Patrol show. Oh and afterwards, there was a queue to see Santa.

A perfect Christmas show that perfectly pitches all the messages and meanings of Christmas as well as our families and our little old planet.