Birmingham Repertory Theatre is getting into the Christmas spirit this month by staging the world premiere of Nativity! The Musical. Based on the popular UK film franchise, the show is written and directed by Debbie Isitt, who also created the movies... 

In the world of Birmingham-born, Coventry-based writer and director Debbie Isitt, the past 10 years have been a bit like the White Witch’s Narnia in reverse: it’s always Christmas and only occasionally winter. But with three Nativity films now behind her, a fourth one in the works and a hotly anticipated stage musical version premiering at the Birmingham REP this month, is the Queen of Britain’s festive-film scene starting to tire of Christmas every day? Not likely. 

“I just love it!” she exclaims. “I really genuinely love Christmas and I always have, so doing it all the time is brilliant!”

And really, you’d have to love it. If you’re the sort of person who wants to tear your own ears off the second shops start playing carols in November, best not to even imagine writing Christmas songs the whole year round. On the other hand, if you’re coming to see Nativity! The Musical this autumn, you’d better be ready for a lot of them, since the stage show features all the songs from all the films plus about as many new ones. 

“It really does change the dynamic. It gives you much more insight into the characters and their backstories. And the emotions are more intense, like with the love story between Mr Maddens and Jennifer - it feels even bigger now because they’re singing duets.

“Hollywood Are Coming is the big Act One song. When Mr Poppy overhears the rumours and spreads them around town, that grows into a great big feelgood song. And there’s a really sweet song towards the end of the first act, which is the letter to Santa. So there’s a lot of variety.”

As in the films, the child cast is made up of ordinary children with no professional acting training, all of them from around the West Midlands. Of course, an all-singing, all-dancing live show is a more demanding ask of primary school-aged kids than a film that can be cut, re-shot and edited - particularly given Isitt’s signature improvisational style. Is it all starting to feel as crazy as one of the nativities in her stories?

“A little bit! And it can only get crazier. A lot of the things we did in the film are more difficult to get working on stage - like the flying. But that’s what makes it fun. It’s so boring just to find your mark and say your line. In this case, everyone knows the story, so they can steal lines from the film, but they can also change them and add new ones. It’s been a bit of trial and error in rehearsals, but they’ll no doubt keep coming out with things that surprise me every night. 

“We’ve got 27 children in total, split up into three teams of nine: there’s an Oakmoor nine, a St Bernadette’s nine and an understudy nine, and they rotate. So there’s an awful lot for them to learn, and it’s a big challenge to make sure all the teams are getting enough attention and aren’t forgetting which school they’re in. But they’ll all be virtuoso performers by the time they’re finished with us!”

As if that weren’t enough to keep the crew on their toes, there are also plans involving live animals.

“Obviously if it was left up to me, I’d be saying, ‘Yes, bring camels and walk them through the auditorium!’ Unfortunately, in theatre, there are lots of health-and-safety rules, which is probably a good thing for the animals. But there will be something - I won’t say what!”

It’ll be alright on the night, as they say. And even if it’s not, in a story like this, it’s all part of the charm, adding to the comedy that’s made the films such a resounding commercial success. 

“It was a big surprise to me that the first one became as well-loved as it did. I think part of that is the fact that the children get an opportunity to see themselves reflected on the big screen, which is so rare! The great thing about adapting something they already know is that they’re so excited to be part of it. They all come in talking about how much they love the films, and you get the feeling that they’re living their dream, which just lifts the whole rehearsal. It’s fantastic!”

Isitt’s unusual way of working is partly a product of her own acting training. As a directionless 16-year-old, she was “sent to Coventry - literally!” to do an acting course, based on her mum’s suggestion that she was “quite dramatic”. Though she soon turned to writing and directing with her own company, Snarling Beasties, that grounding is still manifest in the respect she has for actors, and in her lack of preciousness about her scripts - for her, it’s more about the subtext anyway.

Yet for all her success since, she’s never felt the lure of London. On the contrary: from local schools to Coventry Cathedral, she’s proud to be showing the nation what the Midlands has to offer. 

“It’s a brilliant region because it has everything I need. In terms of locations, we have the most diverse landscape, from big cities to beautiful countryside. We also have really diverse communities, and I like to work with a lot of non-actors - adults as well as children.

“At the moment we still don’t really have the financial support to keep a lot of our skilled people here. But the great thing about touring this show is that you get to go around the country talking about the Midlands. I think that’s really important. Now, every time I start a new project, people are keen for me to keep working here because they know it’s vital that everyone has a voice and that we don’t just keep repeating the same kind of messages with the same people.”

Nativity! The Musical is at Birmingham REP from Friday 20 October to Sunday 12 November. Debbie Isitt’s adaptation of 101 Dalmatians also shows at the REP, from Thursday 30 November to Saturday 13 January.