The Nosey Reindeer At Ness Gardens, Wirral Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Dottie Rood

Well, what a lovely addition to our Christmas celebrations, to be treated to a new show at Ness Gardens. I was lucky enough to be invited along (plus my three youngest grandchildren) to see The Nosey Reindeer which was performed by Blue Jay Theatre Company.

Blue Jay Theatre Company is a brand-new theatre company that was formed in 2025 by husband-and-wife team, Jordan and Amy Barnes. They are based North Wales and developed their company using their shared passion for theatre and their desire to bring bold, exciting and inspiring performances to as many people as possible both locally and nationally. They run weekly youth theatre sessions and produce professional shows to bring the joy of live theatre to all ages.

“At Blue Jay, we believe theatre should be accessible, imaginative and community driven. As we take flight in our very first year we’re excited to share our productions, workshops and events in North Wales and beyond”, is a quote on bluejaytheatreproduction@gmail.com

The Nosey Reindeer was held in a lovely little theatre in the visitor’s centre at Ness Botanical Gardens and straight away there was a lovely Christmassy feeling within the theatre. The company were very welcoming especially to the children and as it was already set up, they were very excited. There were ‘reindeer goody bags’ with reindeer antlers stuck out of the top on a table at the entrance that got the children immediately interested in what was about to come. These bags were for sale which wasn’t obvious at first so caused some upset with smaller children who thought they could just take one! They were £9.99 and had a selection box, Christmas tree decoration to colour, candy cane, Christmas pen and the Reindeer Antlers to wear.

The show started with Ollie Beetson as Rudolf standing at the back of the theatre with his bright red nose glowing on a big reindeer head in front of his body which was worked with his hands. The children thought this looked really funny and knew instantly that it was definitely Rudolph. Lottie Hill as Elsie the Elf then came bouncing on stage saying hello and waving, yes, the show had begun!

What followed was a joyous enthusiastic play in which Rudolph was very sad for an unknown reason and his nose lost its glow, he and Elsie the Elf then had to work out how he would get it back. This entailed going to the ‘Wise Willow Tree’, which was a computer animated face on a ‘tree’ with the voice of Billy Butler MBE saying the words. On their travels they came upon a little talking mouse and managed to get separated from each other in the storm resulting in some audience participation about where they had gone, all with lots of enthusiasm. With some lovely songs and more audience participation they realised they needed kindness, hope and fun to restore Rudolph’s nose glow!

Although the set/stage was small it was used well letting us know what was going on using lighting and actions, i.e. we definitely knew Rudolph and Elsie the Elf were going through a storm with their brilliant actions and the sound effects.

The play was only on for 40 minutes with a character meet and greet at the end making it about an hour altogether and at £10 per ticket I felt this was good value however I did feel it was a little bit short for the older children who were there as they loved the audience participation sections and maybe would have liked a bit more? However, this did not detract from a fun play that gives younger children a brilliant introduction to live theatre in a lovely intimate setting.

The Nosey Reindeer has now finished at Ness Botanical Gardens but is available at Darwen Library Theatre Wednesday 17th to Tuesday 23rd December 2025.

Blue Jay Theatre Productions offer lots more shows including The Sabrina Effect, a dazzling new theatre show celebrating the magic, music and unmistakable charisma of Sabrina Carpenter, on Monday 16th February 2026 plus more dates and venues to be added. It also has Blue Jay Youth theatre, singing, dancing and acting for 8-18year olds, for more information visit bluejaytheatreproduction@gmail.com
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost: £8.00 for member £10 for non members
The Nosey Reindeer was at Ness Botanical Gardens Cheshire CH64 4AY from Saturday 13th December to Sunday 14th December
For more information contact Ness gardens on 0151 795 6300 or nessgdns@liverpool.co.uk or contact bluejaytheatreproduction@gmail.com