A Christmas Carol review – sparse on sparkles but Dickens’ story remains a beacon
Even the proportions of Ebenezer Scrooge’s office are mean. The clever set by Jess Curtis squeezes in three London townhouses, thin, tall and grey, all slate and soot. They spin around to reveal cramped interiors as Scrooge (Gareth Williams) edges his way upstairs, past Bob Cratchit (Oliver Mawdsley) perched at a narrow ledger desk. It has the effect of making a big stage look claustrophobic.
Adam Foley’s parsimonious lighting adds to the effect, rarely raising the colour temperature above sepia. A hearty scene in orange is as warm as it gets. This Scrooge is a penny-pincher in lean times. Candles are an extravagance.
There is little unexpected about Tom Bellerby’s staging or Mike Kenny’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens standard. Neither tries to leaven the austerity with humour or jollify things with audience interaction. Some of that would have been welcome, but their approach is to trust a time-honoured tale and play it straight. The audience remains spellbound.
Bellerby takes Dickens’ title literally by infusing the show with close-harmony carols. Musical director Sonum Batra loads up the cast with guitar, accordion, fiddle and tuba as a community counterpoint to Scrooge’s money-centric individualism. ’Tis the season to be jolly, for everyone except Scrooge, although he is rather taken with the extended scenes of folk dance; the best pleasures come free.
Kenny sticks faithfully to the original, although he underplays the pathos of the Tiny Tim story: you would think the boy just had a bit of a cough. The Ghost of Christmas Past is an innocent youth; Christmas Present is a childbearing pagan in leafy green; and Christmas Future is a funereal figure with cello. No wonder Scrooge is spooked.
Played by Williams, Scrooge is a whiskery curmudgeon, blunt and emotionally inarticulate. He learns his lesson from a series of spooky vignettes, not least the writhing bodies reaching up from a grave he narrowly avoids. He looks on with mouth agape before returning rejuvenated with sprightly good cheer.
It adds up to a polished and absorbing production, rich in detail and musical life if low on emotional punch.
At Derby theatre until 4 January
