A Christmas Carol, London

I have to admit that A Christmas Carol is one of my favourite Christmassy stories. Old, mean man in a dodgy nightcap gets shown the error of his old mean ways basically by his own conscience via the most wonderful old fashioned morality and then proceeds to try and make amends in the world leading to him ending up a much happier and more fulfilled individual. It’s such a simple story – Scrooge doesn’t have years of therapy, he doesn’t go on antidepressants, he doesn’t go off to India to find himself in an Ashram, he just stops behaving like such a mean old man and then suddenly things start to look brighter. Oh what a different world we would all live in today if each of us was paid a visit by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet To Come.

Charles Dickens’ original tale starts with the death of Jacob Marley, business partner of the aforementioned Ebenezer Scrooge. On the same night 7 years later Marley reappears and warns Scrooge what awaits him if he doesn’t change his mean and greedy ways (very bad things pretty much for all eternity that’s what). He’s then visited by the 3 ghosts – Christmas Past who takes him back to his boyhood before he became such a mean old man; Christmas Present to his nephew Fred’s house and humble employee Bob Crachit and son Tiny Tim to see how he other, less mean half live; and Christmas Yet To Come to see a dark vision of his own future. It’s pretty heavy stuff for a festive tale but there is of course a happy ending.

The production at the Arts Theatre is ever so slightly different.  Adapted for a modern audience this version by Susie McKenna and Steve Edis is a musical version of the classic festive tale and “tells the story of Christmas-hating Sidney and his nephew Danny. Accidentally locked in a theatre, the pair find themselves forced to perform A Christmas Carol in front of a packed audience with only the help of two out-of-work actors, the resident theatre cat and a mouse suffering from stage fright. But this is no ordinary night at the theatre and with a healthy sprinkling of festival charm and a little help from the audience, Dickens’s story is retold as we watch Scrooge rediscover his love of life, mankind and Christmas.”

The production at the Arts Theatre runs until the 10th January and will feature puppets of some description, Gareth Hale of Hale and Pace fame in the lead role and the foyer of the venue will also be transformed into a Victorian experience offering Dickensian treats (www.theartstheatre.co.uk).

The Arts Theatre
6-7 Great Newport Street
London
WC2H 7JB
+44 20 7492 1593