Tall Stories brings its Olivier-nominated staging of the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book back to the West End for Christmas, with Elle Dillon-Reams taking the broomstick as the Witch. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
There is a particular kind of theatre that has to win its audience in the first minute, because its audience is three years old and will say so if it has not. Tall Stories has been doing exactly that with Room on the Broom for well over a decade, and the company's hour-long staging of the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book returns to the West End this Christmas, at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, from Friday 27 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.
Who is starring in Room on the Broom?
The company Tall Stories currently lists for the production is led by Elle Dillon-Reams as the Witch. Finlay McGuigan doubles as the Bird and the Dragon, Jessica Allan plays the Cat and understudies the Witch, and Ed Theakston takes the Dog and the Frog while covering the Cat. Ed Cooke understudies the remaining roles. It is a small company by design: four performers, a good deal of puppetry and a great many quick changes carry the whole story.
Several of them know this territory well. McGuigan's credits include The Tempest Re-imagined for Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and the Unicorn Theatre, and a Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyric Hammersmith; Allan has toured in Tales from Acorn Wood LIVE; and Theakston has been with this production before, as understudy and assistant stage manager, as well as appearing in The Koala Who Could at the Southbank Centre.
Spotlight on Elle Dillon-Reams
Dillon-Reams arrives at the broomstick by an unusual road. Before she was a witch she was best known as a writer and spoken-word performer: her debut poetry collection, Maladaptive, was published by Verve Poetry Press, she was one of the poets selected for BBC Radio 6 Music's 2023 Poetry Class, and her work has been heard at Glastonbury, Latitude and the Edinburgh International Festival. Her own solo shows, HoneyBEE and MEAT, have both toured the UK, and her stage credits elsewhere run through Shakespeare, including A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare North and touring productions of Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It. That background matters more here than it might seem. The Witch is the part that carries Donaldson's verse, and the show depends on its rhymes landing with an audience still learning what rhyme is; a performer who has spent years making words work aloud in a field at a festival is well suited to the job. Tall Stories lists her as the Witch for the current tour, which brings Room on the Broom to the Lyric this Christmas.
What is Room on the Broom about?
A kind-hearted witch and her cat are flying over the countryside when the wind starts helping itself to her belongings: first her hat, then her bow, then her wand. Each time, a new animal finds the missing item and asks, in return, for a seat on the broom. A dog, a bird and a frog climb aboard, and the broomstick, which was never built for five, eventually gives way, at precisely the moment a hungry dragon comes looking for his dinner. What follows is a story about friendship and about the small creatures repaying a kindness, told with songs the audience is encouraged to join, and with the book's refrain kept firmly intact.
The production is recommended for ages three and up, and runs for an hour with no interval, which is about the right length for a first visit to the theatre.
Who is behind the production?
The show is adapted by Tall Stories from the 2001 picture book and directed by Olivia Jacobs, with Toby Mitchell as dramaturg. Morgan Large designs, Yvonne Stone designs the puppets and James Whiteside lights it. The music and lyrics are by Jon Fiber and Andy Shaw for Jollygoodtunes, the choreographer is Morag Cross and the costume supervisor is Alice Lessing. Tall Stories, the company behind the stage versions of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, produces. The production was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2013, and the Lyric season sits in the middle of a UK tour that continues into the new year.
When and where can I see it?
Room on the Broom runs at the Lyric Theatre, 29 Shaftesbury Avenue, from Friday 27 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. The running time is one hour with no interval. Tickets currently start at £13. The season includes audio-described, relaxed and BSL-signed performances, as well as touch tours. As at every Nimax theatre, children aged 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over and seated next to them.
What else should I book if I like it?
- The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre: another picture book brought to the stage for young audiences at Christmas, told almost entirely without words. Our guide to The Snowman has the details.
- Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hackney Empire: the natural next step once a young theatregoer is ready for a full-length pantomime. See our guide to the Hackney pantomime.
- The Jungle Book at the National Theatre: a bigger family show built, like this one, around a cast of animals. Our guide to The Jungle Book covers the run.
