The hundreds of lantern lights that adorn Jack Thorne’s adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are in full glow at the Old Vic this holiday season, and the cold air feels a bit warmer because of it. In director Matthew Warchus’ production, now in its 7th return season, the Victorian tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghostly visits he endures on Christmas Eve is played out in an ensemble-heavy adaptation, offering a communal collaboration from the stage to the highest balcony. Maybe it helps that audience members are invited in creating a feast for the Cratchit family in the most delightful of ways, but the real feast here is in the feeling we get when we enter the in-the-round space; some live orchestral carols, mince pies, oranges thrown from stage to dress circle, it’s all pure merriment. Rob Howell’s sparse, yet effective set makes great use of simple wooden blocks and door frames, caging Scrooge in the miserable world he built for himself. Combined with creaking, grating sounds (courtesy of Simon Baker) and ghostly beams from Hugh Vanstone, we’re set up for a proper ghost story. After all, Dickens’ full title for the tale is followed by “Being a Ghost Story of Christmas”. Let the haunting begin.
Yet, when Scrooge’s long-deceased business partner, Marley, materialises in the chains he built through years of bitterness, there is little awe to it. Perhaps this is because, not even ten minutes into this adaptation, Scrooge is already settled in for the haunting that is yet to take place. Scrooge, commendably, if not menacingly, played by John Simm, is given so little time to establish himself as the “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner” we know, making his eventual transformation feel somewhat lacklustre. Thorne has made his own additions to the story, including a larger role for Ebenezer’s past lover, Belle, and the addition of The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come taking the shape of his younger sister, Fann. These all add wonderful layers to story beats we thought we knew well, but the original text has gotten left behind in the process. While there are countless adaptations of this tale, Thorne and Warchus seem to rely a bit too well on the audience’s previous knowledge of the story, instead opting for extended sequences of audience interaction and bell-ringing. Still, this does not deter from your experience.
One of the most striking elements of this production includes Christopher Nightingale’s original score and arrangements of carols you can’t help but sing along to. By adding this musicality, the breakneck speed of the production is still able to achieve its most emotional moments through the power of Nightingale’s score, if not through spoken word. Despite the shortcomings of the text itself, the tale’s themes of redemption and compassion still make their way to our hearts, offering all of us something to reflect on as we look up in awe at the soapy “snow” shot out during the climax of the evening. After all, we all can be a bit of a Scrooge now and then, we just have to hope we’re given the opportunity to reflect it through the means of sitting in a Theatre rather than having a ghost come knocking on our door. While these ghosts may not offer much to frighten, they certainly offer a merry time.
A version by Jack Thorne
Music by Christopher Nightingale
Directed by Matthew Warchus
Featuring John Simm
Cast includes: Andrew Lincoln, Melissa Allan , Rosanna Bates, John Dagleish, Tim Van Eyken, Julie Jupp, Sam Lathwood, Eugene McCoy, Gloria Obianyo
Maria Omakinwa, Golda Rosheuvel, Michael Rouse
Until 4 January, 2025