Every December, theatre and movie promos promise shows that will manifest “the magic of the season.” Too often, what they mean is festive décor draped over familiar beats: a comforting facsimile, rather than the transporting thing itself. In this light, Here For Now Theatre’s Ruby and the Reindeer, a commission and world premiere is a precious rarity: a source of genuine holiday magic which is felt, rather than manufactured.
Canadian playwright Mark Crawford teams with director Irene Poole for a production whose confidence shows in its simplicity. The frame for Ruby and the Reindeer is present-day: Adult Ruby (Maev Beaty) turns over a mysterious, long-unopened Christmas card, and finds herself drawn back to the formative winter of 1989 — when a reindeer in distress paid an unexpected visit to the family dairy farm. Within that premise, we meet young Ruby (Tabitha Campbell), her dad Dave (Gordon Miller), the new local vet Kathy (Ijeoma Emesowum), and Dave’s father Gerald (Benedict Campbell). The plot is wisely left to unfold in the remembered farmhouse and barnyard. What matters is how this memory-journey enlarges into something richer, without ever losing its human scale.
The show leans heavily—and winningly—into location. This is Stratford as farm-dotted countryside, not postcard theatre town: a geography of barns, chores, and hazardous winter driving. Francesca Callow’s functional two-storey wooden farm set, which opens up like a dollhouse and features a simple (and significant) gate at left, maximizes Here For Now’s intimate stage space and transports us between house and barn with ease. Louise Guinand’s wintered lighting makes the air feel crisp and bright. And Poole’s direction is un-fussy yet energetic, propelled by real emotional stakes, a core mystery, and the practical rhythms of farm life.
The ensemble is note-perfect. Miller’s Dave is a decent, conflicted and frazzled single father with a deep concern for family, farm animals, and friends. Emesowum’s Kathy balances warmth and vulnerability with steel and calm resolve. Campbell’s Gerald brings careworn humor and simple wisdom. And Tabitha Campbell’s young Ruby (who desperately wants 3 big things for Christmas … plus a bright-yellow Walkman) is absolutely natural and winning. She conjures the full range of teenage weather: sensitivity, strength, scheming, and a goofy exuberance that echoes, delightfully, in adult Ruby.
Speaking of whom… as present-day Ruby (and in a couple of delightful turns beyond), Maev Beaty provides our spirited, sincere and buoyant way into this holiday tale. Deeply reflective, she is wonderfully grounded … yet light on her feet and vibrating with excitement. Her elemental energy carries us from the tactile itch of that mysterious unopened card to a widened sense of legacy and grace. Zoom out, in fact, and this show is a touching commentary on how tradition, like society itself, evolves to endure and endures to evolve. And Beaty’s performance is the lynchpin.
When you begin watching Ruby and the Reindeer, you think you’ve settled in for the simple, heartwarming tale of a formative family Christmas on a farm. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, it turns itself into something richer, vaster, wilder — and far more timelessly holiday-magical.
I left the show smiling, shaking my head, and thinking, “I can’t believe they went all the way there.” They did. They do. And it’s wonderful.
Don’t let anyone spoil it. Just go. See Ruby and the Reindeer, and experience for yourself true holiday magic.
Ruby and the Reindeer has been extended until December 30, 2025 at Here For Now Theatre. Tickets are available at herefornowtheatre.com.
© Scott Sneddon, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
