A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Old Vic)****

 

By Louise

Link: A Christmas Carol | The Old Vic (oldvictheatre.com) £10, £20, £30, £40, £55, £65 (pay what you can)

Available until: Livestreams available Monday-Saturday until Thursday 24^th December. Times vary.

There are a lot of productions of A Christmas Carol which will be available online this month. I’ve only watched this one so far so I can’t say which one is the best, and that probably wouldn’t be fair, anyway. All I can say that if you want to choose just one, this will be a good one to choose. I’m sure there will be other good productions too, but this one is definitely good.

I think most people know the story of A Christmas Carol, but in case you don’t, it’s based on a novel by Charles Dickens and it’s about a man called Ebenezer Scrooge. He hates Christmas and everything it stands for. All he cares about is money. But one night he has a visitor who tells him there is still time for him to change. He will receive three more visitors. They will help him decide what to do.

The script is written by Jack Thorne, an experienced writer in theatre and television. The script includes narration (I’m not sure if they are direct quotes from the novel, but if not, it is very close), which explains the things it would be difficult to show onstage. It also gives the play a sort of ‘bedtime story’ effect and I think a lot of people really enjoy that. I know I do. The plot follows the story of the novel, though there are a few surprises at the end. I think it’s really lovely.

This production of A Christmas Carol takes the title literally and I love it! Several carols are heard throughout the play. They’re sung and played beautifully. I especially love the addition of handbells as bells are so Christmassy. The stage is beautifully-lit by Hugh Vanstone as well, which gives it an extra magical and Christmassy feel.

The ghosts aren’t as spooky as they could have been, but I don’t think this is a bad thing. They do seem spooky in the novel and it’s conventional to make them spooky, but I don’t think it’s completely a ghost story. The things the ghosts show matter more than how creepy the ghosts are so you could say there’s an advantage if you’re not distracted by the spooky ghosts.

A lot of film effects are used in this story. Some people might feel this makes the play into less of a theatrical experience and I think that is a fair point. Although we are watching online plays onscreen, they should still be plays. But the most important thing about theatre is that it’s live, the feeling that the actors are living through this just like their audience (only the actors have to work a lot harder) and this show is still live and I was very aware of that.

The play is on Zoom, but it’s set up automatically so your camera and microphone are switched off so no-one can see or hear you or try to talk to you. Zoom is very easy to install and also very easy to uninstall if you’d rather it wasn’t hanging around on your device.

Andrew Lincoln takes the role of Scrooge and I think he does very well. Although Scrooge isn’t likeable, there is something about Mr Lincoln’s performance that makes you sympathise enough to care about what happens and hope things work out well for him. There are lots of other actors, but I think Scrooge is onstage the whole time. Mr Lincoln carries the show very well and still has energy left at the end.

There are also some very likeable characters, especially the Cratchit family. John Dagleish is full of kindness as Bob, the father, and anyone who finds Tiny Tim a bit soppy as a rule will probably really like the more confident interpretation which is used here. I’m not sure which Tiny Tim I saw (though I think it was a boy), but the young actors are Rayhaan Kufuor-Gray, Lara Mehmet, Lenny Rush and Eleanor Stollery. The one I saw is very good. Maria Omakinwa is lovely as Mrs Cratchit.

Michael Rouse gives two really powerful performances as Jacob Marley and Scrooge’s father, Clive Rowe is an extrovert and brilliantly-characterised Fezziwig, and Eugene McCoy’s Fred is cheerful but not in an unrealistic way. The ghosts of Christmasses Past and Present (Myra McFadyen and Golda Rosheuvel) are more bossy than spooky and someone from Scrooge’s life makes a surprise appearance as the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

There are a few surprises with this production, but I think they are good surprises and I enjoyed it a lot.