Credit: Pamela Raith Photography
Grace has just stopped by the Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio for a wonderful first sniff of No Such Thing as Wolves, and I can confirm the satchel is rustling with excitement. The Hippodrome has been quietly building a reputation for making new musicals for young audiences, and Wolves is the second chapter in their My First Musical series. Their first outing, The Jingleclaw, was a five-star hit that had children humming songs for weeks and saw more than one grown-up tapping their toes without shame.
This new woodland romp follows the story of Hettie Hedgehog, who is positively ready to curl up for hibernation – blanket, hot chocolate, maybe a biscuit or two – until her new pal Sydney Squirrel convinces her to throw a party instead. If that sounds fun already, wait until two mysterious party guests arrive with great big ears, pointy teeth and a charisma that may or may not be entirely woodland-friendly. Let’s just say things become paws-itively riotous.
The show’s cast are all local to the West Midlands and absolutely bursting with gentle mischief and personality. Faye Campbell plays Hettie Hedgehog with warmth and curiosity, Beth O’Rorke brings charm as Sydney Squirrel, and Elinor Peregrin gives Woofy a lovable wild streak. They’re joined by Matthew Rutherford as Harry Hedgehog and Oliver Sidney as the delightfully chaotic Wiffy. There is also a lovely voiceover appearance from Lenny Henry, which feels like discovering a celebrity tucked behind a tree stump.
Behind the scenes, the show has some heavy hitters. The book and lyrics are written by Gerard Foster, and the music and lyrics are by Richie Webb – both experienced writers whose fingerprints can be found all over children’s television, including the multi-award-winning Horrible Histories. If you’ve ever heard a young person passionately belt out a history song while brushing their teeth, you’ve probably encountered Webb’s work already. Gerard Foster has been involved with everything from Postman Pat and PJ Masks to Lagging and JoJo & Gran-Gran, and has the rare gift of writing gently anarchic humour that keeps adults amused without losing the children.
The show is directed by Emily Ling Williams, who recently won the Stage Debut Award for Best Director and has trained with some of the UK’s most respected theatre organisations. Her touch is wonderfully light – plenty of humour, a dash of whimsy, and a reassuring sense that even the scariest woodland creatures are never as frightening as they seem once the lights go up.
The creative team includes Hannah Sibai as Set and Costume Designer, Arielle Smith as Choreographer, Gillian Tan designing the lighting, Charlie Smith working his magic on sound, Alex Beetschen as Music Supervisor, Arranger and Orchestrator, and Sarah Morrison steering the ensemble as Musical Director. It is a talented forest of theatre-makers and technicians, all creating a world that feels alive, friendly and wonderfully detailed. And like any good woodland musical, there’s a drummer (Jonathan Antil), a committed sound team (Rich Jones and Charles Tang), a production sound engineer (Christopher Wall), and lighting heroes including George Seal, Joe Ralph and Jakey Bell.
Costumes and backstage mischief are overseen by Caroline Mirfin, Jacki Cottom and Hannan Finnegan, while the whole show is held together by a quietly heroic stage management team: Emily Humphrys, Jasper Mattel, Africa Blagrove and Nick May, supported by Production Managers Christopher Ball and George Seal. Casting has been handled with care by Pearson Casting.
No Such Thing as Wolves runs until Sunday 4 January 2026 and is suitable for ages 3 and over, with babes in arms welcomed. There are relaxed, audio-described, captioned and BSL-interpreted performances on Saturday 13 December and Tuesday 16 December at 10:15am, which is deeply appreciated by families who want theatre to be joyful and accessible rather than stressful. Grace applauds this loudly from the stalls.
The performers each bring a fascinating career history into this woodland world. Faye Campbell has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Garrick Theatre in the West End, as well as starring in family favourites like Cinderella and Peter Pan. She also appears on television in The Cleaner, Champion and Doctors. Matthew Rutherford has travelled the world with theatre, from Buddy Holly and Merrily We Roll Along to Sweeney Todd, Love Beyond and international film projects. Beth O’Rorke trained locally and has performed as Sophie in Mamma Mia aboard Royal Caribbean, as well as in pantomimes across the UK. Elinor Peregrin is a writer, actor, folk musician and multi-instrumentalist whose new musical, Elbow Deep, is being developed with the Hippodrome’s New Musical Theatre team. She can play trombone, sackbut, guitar and bodhrán, which means Hettie Hedgehog’s woodland world benefits from musicianship that most woodland creatures would envy.
Oliver Sidney is a Mountview graduate who has appeared in Goodnight Mr Tom, the West End production and international tour of Oliver!, Snoopy in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, and a wealth of roles across Sondheim, Merrily We Roll Along and A Little Night Music.
Gerard Foster, the show’s writer, has a distinguished comedy background including early days with BBC Radio comedy darlings The Cheese Shop, sketch-writing for Live & Kicking and a glittering list of children’s television credits. Richie Webb has written songs for practically every corner of British comedy and children’s entertainment, from Goodness Gracious Me to every anthem in Horrible Histories. His work has been performed at Royal Albert Hall Proms and sung in living rooms and classrooms everywhere.
It is a pleasure seeing these long-standing comedy and music veterans writing for the very young – because if there’s anything children deserve, it’s the same level of craft, imagination and theatrical joy as the grown-ups.
No Such Thing as Wolves is produced by Birmingham Hippodrome and supported by Charles Holloway OBE, Principal Supporter of the production. Birmingham Hippodrome continues to be one of the UK’s most exciting incubators for family musicals, supporting new writing, new voices and a whole generation of young theatregoers who will grow up thinking that woodland creatures regularly throw parties before bedtime.
Grace’s final word from the satchel: young audiences deserve stories that are enchanting, silly, melodic and safe without being dull – and this production gets that balance beautifully. A musical that invites children to giggle, dance, whisper “is that a wolf?” to their grown-ups and discover that friendship is stronger than fear? That’s my kind of woodland adventure.
Tickets are available through the Birmingham Hippodrome website or by calling 0121 689 3000. If you have young people in your life who love animals, mischief or parties held inside tree trunks, this is exactly the sort of show that turns a rainy December morning into a memory.
Birmingham Hippodrome – Open for Ooohs, Aaahhs, Wows and Wonder
Grace has decided that if woodland creatures really do host musical parties before hibernation, she wants to deliver the invitations personally.
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