ONCE upon a time, there were two shoemakers who were very old and very poor.

So poor they couldn’t even afford to buy each other Christmas presents. With no wood for the fire and only one piece of leather left to make shoes, there was little festival spirit in the shoemakers’ shop.

But one night, just as the snow begins to fall outside and the clock strikes midnight, two mischievous elves appear at the window…

With live music, puppetry and lots of theatre magic, Grimm’s classic fairy tale The Elves and the Shoemakers comes to life this Christmas as a festive treat for all the family in York Theatre Royal Studio from December 11 to January 5.

This follows the success of last year’s Studio Christmas production for children The Book of Dragons, directed by York Theatre Royal Associate Director Juliet Forster.

Now she directs The Elves and the Shoemakers.The writer is Mike Kenny and composer Ivan Stott, who were both involved in tutti frutti’s production of Snow Queen at York Theatre Royal earlier this year.

In the cast of The Elves and the Shoemakers are Niall Costigan, Peyvand Sadeghian and, of course, some mischievous elves, made by Peter O’Rourke. He made the puppets on the Theatre Royal’s summer hit The Secret Garden.

Little Vikings said of The Book of Dragons: “Each adventurous tale is brought to life through a sparkling script full of excitement and humour, puppetry and physical theatre.”

For more information and tickets contact the box office on 01904 623568 or go to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk