Gary Owen’s adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ was first revived and rejigged by director Joe Murphy in 2021, but as you may have guessed from that notorious timestamp, it was plagued by the pesky, old pandemic and forced to close early. Thankfully, for this festive season, this all-singing, all-dancing production returns and has been given life once again – and it is certainly making the most of it.
Already renowned for revamping classics with his signature Welsh touch, Owen’s script is engaging and frequently hilarious. Aided by original music from Lucy Rivers, along with carols, Welsh folks songs and a certified P!nk banger, the play utilises all at its disposal to produce solid entertainment suitable for all the family – and I mean, ALL the family.
This isn’t a kids show which parents must merely tolerate. I think it sits comfortably in that Horrible Histories/ Ghosts niche; with a tame, yet sophisticated approach to comedy. The jokes are objectively funny to all without being juvenile or smutty, crucially avoiding the cacophony usually favoured by pantos, i.e. fart jokes for the five-year-olds and wildly inappropriate innuendos for the over-forties.
On stage, there is a gorgeous miniature village designed by Hayley Grindle. It’s made up of larger-than-life dollhouses that are easily manoeuvred in and out of focus which charmingly adjust the limits of the audience’s imagination from scene to scene. Off-stage, there’s a band sitting in the auditorium, with musicians dressed in suitable Victorian attire who regularly engage with the audience, giving the whole experience an immersive, sing-along feel.
As for updates, well, much is as Dickens originally intended, except in this version his familiar characters reside in Cardiff rather than London – a feasible location, as the Welsh capital was a financial centre during the Dickensian era. Various Welsh-isms flow easily into the story whether in the form of the Welsh language used in dialogue and song, or simply through audience-tickling references to real-life locations just a stone’s throw away. But arguably, the most notable alteration of all is that ‘Scrooge’ is now a female character.
Perhaps it’s a compliment to say this couldn’t matter less? I don’t think the gender-swap particularly adds anything – but it certainly doesn’t subtract either. There are a few comments made about her decision to dedicate her life to money instead of pursuing family-life – as would have been the societal expectation at the time – but honestly, it’s all a bit blink-and-you-miss-it to the point of being unnecessary. The most significant result of this change is it gives Hannah McPake the chance to play the role, and that is undoubtedly a positive.
McPake is just the right side of despicable, someone you can cheerfully boo, but never truly hate. Instead, you are able to enjoy her camp villainy rather than wish away the play to reach the point of her comeuppance.
The ghosts, as you might expect, provide most of the standout moments. I found ‘The Ghost of Christmas Past’ (Catrin Mai Edwards), accessorised with aspects of the Mari Lwyd, to be frankly, ethereal. Catrin perfectly embodies this frightening conscience of a character and I relished each of her time-travel transition sequences, which were brought to life effortlessly by her haunting vocals, all melded with echoing church bells in exquisite sound design from Josh Bowles.
But it’s ‘The Ghost of Christmas Present’ that steals the show with a performance that seems to encapsulate the very best of every children’s movie sidekick you’ve ever seen. Owen Alun has tapped into the DNA of Shrek’s ‘Donkey’, Aladdin’s ‘Genie’, or the more seasonally appropriate Frozen’s ‘Olaf’. He has created something loud, energetic and gregarious and managed to speed past ‘irritating’ and settle comfortably at ‘unavoidably lovable’ on the scale of character likeability.
Then arrives ‘The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come’, voiced by Kieron Self, again, with help from some chilling sound design by Josh Bowles. I should quickly mention that Self is also an excellent Jacob Marley and an absolute delight when playing a living Christmas bauble, but as the ghost, he is truly terrifying, bolstered with superb puppetry, designed by Rachael Canning.
You could tell this made some parents a little twitchy. But not the kids! They were all enthralled and just the right side of scared. Director Joe Murphy obviously remembered that all the best children’s stories have a hint of darkness at their heart, which inevitably makes their conclusions ever brighter, and this is certainly the case on Christmas morning when Scrooge awakens, grateful for her second chance at life.
This is an intelligent and thoroughly entertaining adaptation that is more than worthy of standing alongside the multitude of other versions of A Christmas Carol that many of us hold dear. Whilst its script, staging, technical prowess and phenomenal performances deserve credit, its key ingredient can still be found in the original – a clear and concise depiction of ‘Christmas Spirit’.
This creative team had the foresight to retain this core idea – that kindness should be shown to all, regardless of status, whether they are deserving or undeserving, and it’s never too late to simply wake up one day and decide to share it. Three years on, it’s particularly fitting that this production, like Scrooge herself, got that second chance to spread that message of joy.