A Christmas Carol - Review

Theatre Royal, Windsor

****

Written by Charles Dickens

Adapted and directed by Roy Marsden

Having played for just the one week at Windsor’s Theatre Royal, Roy Marsden’s adaptation of the famously festive ghost story made for a charming lead-in to the Christmas season.

Staged as a radio play, the cast sit onstage throughout, costumed as befits their various characters, stepping up to microphone stands to read their lines as Foley Artist Michael Workman creates all sorts of background noises to set the scene. All the sounds are real rather than digitised and it is a treat to see radio drama performed much in the style of how it would have been created during the mid-20th century.

Marsden is Ebenezer Scrooge. Clad in the traditional nightgown as Scrooge receives his three ghostly visitations over the night of Christmas Eve, Marsden’s portrayal of the old miser, from curmudgeonly to compassionate, is the work of a deft old hand who cleverly captures Scrooge’s complexities.

Playing (a Scots) Ghost of Christmas Past as well as Mrs Cratchit, Jenny Seagrove brings a glorious combination of chilling wisdom together with firm but humble homeliness to her brace of  characters. There is a kind familiarity to Seagrove’s performance that is as gorgeous to watch as it is professional in its delivery.

Michael Praed, Robert Duncan and Holly Smith take care of a handful of other key characters that the old yarn requires, while Shannon Rewcroft adds a glorious soprano touch to her roles as Ben Stock steps up to lead the audience in a handful of carols for all after the cast have taken their bows.

The ‘On Air’ series of radio plays is an imaginative concept that the Theatre Royal’s company appear to have skillfully mastered.  Classic dramas, delivered in a way that is both traditional and yet innovative. 

This opinion is published after the show’s run has ended – however it seems that irrespective of this critic’s praise, the Windsor audiences know a good show when they see it. On the night of this review, the house was packed with an audience that spanned the ages and generations, all enjoying an evening of fabulously crafted theatre.

London Tide - Review

National Theatre, London

*

Based on Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend

Adapted by Ben Power

Songs by Ben Power and PJ Harvey

The cast of London Tide

Like an incoming tide of the River Thames, so has London Tide, PJ Harvey and Ben Power’s musical adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, washed over Charles Dickens’ original reducing the 19th century classic to a slurry of mediocre melodrama that runs for more than a mind-numbing three hours. 

Alongside the writers, Ian Rickson’s direction is equally to blame for such an uninspiring evening. Rickson reduces the Thames’s majesty to a figment of our imagination, treating the Lyttleton’s massive proscenium space as a virtual warehouse, albeit one that has a floor that rises and falls along with undulating rows of lighting gantries - suggesting the river’s tidal flows.

Of the acting company Jake Wood is woefully underused as Gaffer Hexham a muscular, menacing Thames Boatman. Elsewhere, the actors try to make the best of this ghastly script, in a show that is not helped by Harvey’s monotonous melodies being poorly sung. The modern songs are grim and lazily written. By way of example, “London is not England, England is not London” must surely rank as one of the most inane lyrics ever to have been sung on stage.

It’s not just the wilful damage that Power and Harvey have wrought on Dickens’ writing - it’s that a sizeable slice of the National Theatre’s all too precious budget will have been consumed in this deluge of pretentious moralising.

London life has been far better served by Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady and Barrie Keefe’s The Long Good Friday, both of which portrayed the city’s gritty contrasts. When it comes to musical interpretations of Dickens, the capital can consider itself well in to be seeing the return of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! later this year.

Runs until 22nd June

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

A Pissedmas Carol - Review

Leicester Square Theatre, London

***

Directed by Katy Baker

The company of A Pissedmas Carol

For the festive season at the Leicester Square Theatre, A Pissedmas Carol sees half a dozen actors (no cast list, no names) tell Dickens’ classic morality tale, but with a twist. Each night one of the company has consumed a copious amount of alcohol before curtain-up and takes their part in the show blind drunk.

To be fair, the whole gig has been well rehearsed and there are liberal quantities of modern Xmas songs woven into the narrative to ease the evening along. The pissed performer is, by their nature, a loose cannon on stage and so all the cast are dab hands, not only at their rehearsed lines but also at improvising their way around their inebriated colleague as the story unfolds.

The songs are well sung and on the night of this review (20th December) the drunk female performer sung a spectacular solo number particularly beautifully. The classic yarn is cantered through at a cracking pace too, which all makes for an eclectic, lively show.

Set your expectations low. These are low-brow festive frolics that lack the raunchy filth of a truly adult pantomime. But if you approach the show fuelled with a modest amount of alcohol yourself, you won't be disappointed. Fun times! 

Runs until 7th January 2023

A Christmas Carol - Review

Arts Theatre, London


*****


Written by Charles Dickens
Directed by Tom Cairns

Simon Callow

Simon Callow’s telling of A Christmas Carol at the Arts Theatre is theatrical perfection. A solo performance, aided only by subtly ingenious projections and the occasional, immaculately timed sound effect, sees Callow deliver Dickens’ classic festive fable in an 80 minute acting masterclass. Dressed plainly, but for the period, Callow’s narration is a tour de force, not only of vocal ingenuity - but of physical theatre too with his carefully choreographed movements only enhancing the story. 

it is of course in Callow’s voice that the story comes alive. His tone takes us through, not only Ebenezer Scrooge’s nightmares and ultimate redemption - but also the characters in Scrooge’s world. Without once resorting to hackneyed cliché, Callow voices the supporting cast in a way that not only convinces, but moves the audience too, removing us from our 21st century screen-based world of visual hyper-stimulation and returning us instead to the land of our imagination, supplemented only by the hints of Dickensian London in Cairns’ elegant, minimal stage design.

The phrase ‘national treasure’ is bandied about far too loosely these days - but Callow ranks there, up amongst our cultural crown jewels. With his mellow, mellifluous timbre and gorgeous cadence, Callow’s take on the story is flawless and unique. Voices such as his are rare - go and catch this gem of a performance - it truly is London’s Christmas cracker!


Runs until 12th January 2019
Photo credit: Laura Marie Linck

A Christmas Carol : The Musical In Concert - Review

Lyceum Theatre, London


****


Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens
Based on the story by Charles Dickens

Griff Rhys Jones

It’s that time of year where once again Freddie Tapner gleefully conducts A Christmas Carol: The Musical in Concert at the West End's Lyceum Theatre for two nights (and a matinee) only. The classic tale is told with the help of a gorgeous cast including Welsh treasures Griff Rhys Jones, X-Factor finalist Lucie Jones together with the fabulous Cedric Neal who, along with an excellent company, bring Alan Menken’s score to life with plenty of Christmas cheer.

Charles Dickens’ story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his moral comeuppance from three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future is a much beloved yarn. Here it is Rhys Jones who bah-humbugs his way through life much to the disappointment of his orphan nephew whose yearly invite to Christmas Dinner is met with gruff Griff’s lust for solitude (“Nothing to do with me!”). David Hunter is Bob Cratchit, his ever-suffering and ever-faithful employee whose son, Tiny Tim is on his last legs (sorry) not that Scrooge seems to mind nor notice. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge’s old partner Jacob Marley (a menacing performance by Jeremy Secomb) arrives with a spooky warning (“Link by link”) that Scrooge may be working his way toward an eternity of torment if he doesn’t give up his self-serving ways. Soon after, the three spirits show up to further open his curmudgeonly eyes to the error of his ways.

The score is full of old-school sentiment, arguably perfect for the time of year, though Cratchit’s sickly sweet exchanges with his son (the adorable Tobias Ungleson) are perhaps a little over sweet and hard to swallow. A few dance-along tunes help bring the festive spirit with Abundance and Charity, a company number led by the delightful Neal, a particular joy.

A few technical issues and lines lost in the London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s melody get in the way of a perfect evening but there is something to be said for gloriously unashamed Christmas celebration in this continuously turbulent time. Get a ticket and settle in for a fun night of relentless festive frolics, indulging yourself in the sheer escapism that comes with the season.

Performances on Monday 17th December at 4pm and 7.30pm

Reviewed by Heather Deacon

Photo credit: Nick Rutter

A Christmas Carol - Review

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon


****


By Charles Dickens
A new adaptation by David Edgar
Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh

Phil Davis

This year's seasonal offering in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a grand affair as David Edgar (it was he who famously adapted Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby for the company back in 1980) tackles A Christmas Carol. The classic fable is timeless in its tale of Ebenezer Scrooge who is forced to re-discover his compassion and humanity. What concerns Edgar however is that some of the book’s rich social commentary upon the time may have been been lost over the decades and this 2017 adaptation seeks to redress that balance.

Edgar’s trick is to frame the story as a spin-out of dialogue between Dickens himself (as a young man in his 30s, played by Nicholas Bishop) and John Forster, the author's editor and friend played by Beruce Kahn. It is a novel conceit that serves well to remind us of the inhuman poverty of the time along with the widespread and crippling exploitation of very young children employed in the nation’s factories. But in his history lesson, Edgar does us a disservice –Dickens’ prose spoke of the harshness of his time through a beautiful (and quintessentially English) dynamic of understatement, allowing his carefully crafted text to paint the picture. Here, as Dickens and Forster occasionally explain the show’s context in their exchanges, Edgar’s script feels lazy and patronising and, to the purists, a distraction. And as for those references to Snapchat, Uber, Tinder and Boris Johnson - they seem crass and shallow in a show that other than its Christmas scheduling is anything but a pantomime.

The casting however is exquisite. Phil Davis’ Scrooge captures the miserly callousness of the old usurer. The story is traditionally set in London and there is more than a hint of Wilfred Brambell’s Steptoe to Davis’ gnarled anti-hero. Actually, that’s no bad thing, because the tragic pathos of Scrooge’s loneliness is one of the show’s underlying drivers and as Dickens' four ghosts guide him on his path to redemption, Davis cleverly lets the petals of Scrooge’s humanity unfold.

But bah humbug! The full depth and breadth of the RSC's main house is put to fine use and even if the projections are a little cranky, Stephen Brimson Lewis’ scenery and Ben Hart’s illusions are a treat. The cast too offer up a fine interpretation of the festive favourite. Vivien Parry pops up as numerous characters throughout the tale including an enchanting Ghost Of Christmas Past (as well as a wonderfully crotchety elderly aunt). Gerard Carey and Emma Pallant break our hearts with their passionate dignity as Bob Cratchit and his wife, while on press night, the sweetly voiced young Jude Muir made fine work of Tiny Tim.

Rachel Kavanaugh has created quality theatre with A Christmas Carol – the show’s visuals offer a hint of magic – and there is much of our nation’s troubled social history to consider too. But above all, the story’s traditional message of the healing powers of love, warmth and kindness shines through. The people of Stratford are well served this Christmas.

Runs until 4th February 2018

Photo by Manuel Harlan (c) RSC

A Christmas Carol (narrated by Simon Callow) - Review

****

Released on 1st of December from Island Records, Simon Callow’s narration of Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic marks the 175th anniversary of Dickens self-publishing the original tale. Two years ago Callow adapted the novel into an acclaimed one-man staged performance and it is that version now being released.

Much like a luxuriously fruited and brandy drenched Christmas pudding, Callow’s voice (surely a national treasure in itself) serves up the festive fable in a recording that lasts a touch longer than the hour. Callow savours Dickens’ descriptions, his telling of the story offering up vivid portrayals of Ebenezer Scrooge, the three foreboding Spirits that visit him through the early hours of Christmas morning and all the other Cheapside characters. 

Adding a subtly seasonal musical backdrop and occasional musical interludes between the chapters, The Brighouse And Rastrick Band offer a selection of carols from their award-winning brass ensemble. In addition to Callow on CD1, a second disc provides a further 20 or so carol melodies recorded by the band, offering the opportunity to either sit back and listen, or maybe join in for a singalong.

It all makes for a marvelous recording and in our modern world, where video-based entertainment spews forth from screens that are everywhere, how wonderful to simply play this recording and let Simon Callow’s magical voice take one’s imagination back to 19th Century London.

Available to buy and download from all the usual retailers and digital platforms.

Dickens Abridged

Arts Theatre, London

****

Written and directed by Adam Long

Damian Humbley

Charles Dickens is as much a fixture of our Christmas culture as a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. So cue Adam Long, a man with impeccable form in abbreviating classic English texts and a co-founder/creator of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Having given us the Bard's complete works (abridged), Long has now moved forward a couple of centuries and fixed his canon upon the works of the great Victorian with Dickens Abridged being a hilarious 90minute zip through some of the writer's classic treasures.

Five guys play all the parts (including some female roles),with Damian Humbley mostly playing Dickens. Opening with Oliver Twist and with some lovely nods to the Oscar winning movie the humour is sharp throughout and the songs (with music all played by the talented band of actor-musicians) having a folksy acoustic guitar sound. Un-mic’d, the occasion has the air of a top-notch Edinburgh Fringe performance.

Humbley is, as always, West End gold. An Australian actor, playing an English writer who for some inexplicable reason along with the rest of the cast, is speaking with a Californian accent. (Maybe so American tourists will understand?). His waist-coated and bearded writer is a joy throughout, never more so then when as an aged and demented Dickens, he is visited by some of his fictional characters seeking revenge for the misfortune he has heaped upon them. The show does not demand an intimate knowledge of the novels, although a passing familiarity with some of the more famous books such as A Tale Of Two Cities and David Copperfield will only add to the evening’s enjoyment.

The irreverence is gorgeously affectionate. Jon Robyns, fresh out of Spamalot and playing amongst others Mr Bumble and Dickens’ wife is a scream, whilst Gerard Carey’s Tiny Tim (with electric guitar for a crutch) is another comedy gem. The guillotine moment from A Tale Of Two Cities is bloodily re-enacted (fear not though, the emphasis is on the humour rather than the horror) with an inspired moment of a decapitated Robyns on mouth organ that will stay with me for a long time.

Kit Orton and Matthew Hendrickson complete the talented company and for a clever Christmas offering, you won’t find funnier. The best of times? Undoubtedly. Dickens Abridged certainly left me wanting more!

Runs until 5th January 2014