Some might argue that post colonial theory has had its day but it’s back and very definitely fresh in the Young Vic and Isango/Portobello’s version of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, a production which re-writes the canon and gives us a new take on Christmas.
A Christmas Carol is one of two plays showing in tandem at the moment, and sits alongside a re-working of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Both are performed by a group of 30 all-singing, all-dancing South African actors who have relocated to the Young Vic for the duration of the performance.
The two productions are directed by Mark Dornford-May, but it is Cape Town born David Lan, artistic director of the Young Vic, who is responsible for introducing this warm South African flavour to wintery London.
So what have the South Africans done to England’s beloved Dickens? And how exactly does Dickens look in the land of sunshine, Mandela, Springboks and, well, Apartheid.
For starters, Scrooge is a steely, entrepreneurial woman who is left to look after her sister’s orphaned daughter, the production is set in a mining town, and parallels are drawn between Dickensian England and the current inequalities and legacies of post-Apartheid South Africa. In addition, the bleak tale has become a musical with song and dance routines to a drum beat that has the power to send chills down the spine – particularly in the opening scene, and finale.
Economics, inequality, love, loneliness and the possibility of change remain its timeless themes. Dickens is still there, and his story takes on a new resonance against the background of contemporary South Africa.
When it gets it right, the production achieves everything it sets out to do. Confronting, engaging, and quirky, it sets a high standard in theatre. Moments like the sick girl’s first solo, and the opening scene with miners singing, illuminated only by the lights on their helmets, are powerfully done. But perhaps their brilliance is also the undoing of the production: they are so good that they emphasise the unevenness of the play, and only serve to highlight the dips where the momentum fades, the acting limps, and the audience loses concentration.
And yet it’s definitely worth sitting through this rollercoaster ride to arrive at the finale. The whole cast sings, dances and beats drums to the tale’s somewhat inconclusive ending – one which, in true Dickens style, is just a new beginning.
When Dickens first wrote A Christmas Carol, its message was so powerful it was credited with a change in employment attitudes, such as factories closing on Christmas day. You can only hope that this re-vamped version of play has even some of the impact of the book on modern day audiences.
A Christmas Carol and The Magin Flute run until 19 January 2008 at the Young Vic, London.
