It’s astonishing to think that Charles Dickens’ ghostly novella A Christmas Carol is still such a part of our collective psyche after some 180 years. There have been over a 100 film adaptations and numerous stage shows the world over. Here in London, Jack Thorne’s delightful production at The Old Vic in Waterloo has become a warm and wonderful festive tradition in its own right.
Each year, a different actor is invited to play Ebenezer Scrooge, from Rhys Ifans in 2017 to this year’s lead, John Simm (who plays television’s popular detective Roy Grace). Along the way, the production has won five Tony Awards on Broadway, has played in Las Vegas and San Francisco, and is currently enjoying its third season in Melbourne.
This production excels in creating an eerie Christmas atmosphere with black-clad singers, hauntingly lyrical hand-bells and a lamplit creaky stage. The band, under the musical direction of Alan Berry, is perched in a box above the action and does a wonderful job of creating pace and feeling with a score by Christopher Nightingale. The lighting, designed by Hugh Vanstone, is also key to setting the mood. And the set and costumes, both by Rob Howell, are hard to fault exuding an up-to-the-minute sense of Victoriana. With the long stage, multiple cast entry points and all around seating, it really feels like the audience is part of the show.
Ebenezer Scrooge is a wonderful character, a grumpy old miser who literally hides his money under the floorboards and bolts the (imaginary) doors to hide away from “the singing creatures” (carol singers) who dare to come to his door.
Simm perfectly embodies the old man’s miserable ways, but is also engaging as the younger, happier Scrooge. “I don’t want him to become me…” he says ruefully. Simm engages with the other characters with real feeling, especially Juliette Crosbie as Belle and Georgina Sadler as Little Fan.
Of course, it is the ghosts who reveal the truth of the story and bring to life that fear of death and the unknown that is the fate of us all. It may be that “fate is just a concept to scare the poor” but it certainly feels real here. Mark Goldthorp is magical as Marley, especially as he drags his chains along the full length of the stage.
Of the living characters, Rob Compton has wonderful presence as Bob and Vinnie Stone is wonderful in his professional stage debut, but inevitably, it is Tiny Tim who wins the audience’s heart.
There are a few moments where the tension is lost and the production almost descends into pantomime, especially with winter vegetables falling from the gods and a roast turkey flying through the air. Thankfully director Matthew Warchus reins in the merriment just in time to remind us that this is, at heart, a serious morality tale. And if a criticism is to be made, it’s that John Simm’s portrayal of Scrooge is actually too nice – we have to believe in his mean spirit, greed and cruelty if we are to believe in his torment and possible redemption. (But that would be too Scrooge-like of me to say…)
This is a delightful production that shows why Charles Dickens is indeed the literary father of the Victorian ghost story. And while Dickens may not have believed in ghosts he was intrigued by the idea of them and is known to have experimented with mesmerism and séances.
Read: Don’t miss in November – your monthly guide to the brightest and best arts in London
As the audience leaves the theatre, there is the now-traditional ‘bucket’ collection in aid of the local Waterloo Foodbank, which has raised over £1 million to date – do give generously.
The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol is the perfect Christmas treat. Dickens would have approved!
A Christmas Carol by Jack Thorne
From the novel by Charles Dickens
Director: Matthew Warchus
Set and Costume: Rob Howell
Composer and Arranger: Christopher Nightingale
Lighting: Hugh Vanstone
Sound: Simon Baker
Casting: Jessica Ronane CDG
Movement: Lizzi Gee
Musical Director: Alan Berry
Voice: Charlie Hughes-D’Aeth
Dialect: Danièle Lydon
Associate Director: Jamie Manton
2nd Associate Director: Chloe Christian
Associate Set: Bec Chippendale, Megan Rouse
Associate Costume: Lucy Gaiger
Associate Lighting: Sam Waddington, Hector Murray
Associate Sound: Emma Laxton
Associate Movement: Rebecca Louis
Hair, Wigs and Make-Up: Campbell Young Associates
Props Supervisor: Lisa Buckley, Tegan Cutts
Musician’s Contractor: David Gallagher
Cast: John Simm, Rob Compton, Raffaella Covino, Juliette Crosbie, Jamie Doncaster, Geraint Downing, Kimmy Edwards, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Mark Goldthorp, Ahmed Hamad, Julie Jupp, Baker Mukasa, Alastair Parker, Georgina Sadler, Lillie-Pearl Wildman, Connor Wood, Casey-Indigo Blackwood-Lashely, Freddie Marshall-Ellis, Freddie Merritt, Vinnie Stone
A Christmas Carol will be performed at The Old Vic to 4 January 2025.
