We are all Scrooges now. As the first credit crunch Christmas approaches, newspapers are full of pessimism, shops are full of promotions and everyone is counting their pennies.
It is now 165 years since Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, currently showing at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, but his story seems as relevant today as it was in 1843. Although not without touches of humour, the Rose’s Christmas offering is hardly knock-about panto, and there is no Widow Twanky among the Victorian poverty and starving families. Karen Louise Hebden’s adaptation retains 90 per cent of the direct speech in Dickens’ novel, and his stress on the importance of community shines through as Scrooge is shown the meaning of Christmas and reforms his miserly ways. Stephen Unwin directs, making inventive use of the auditorium. The audience take their seats among London fog and actors in Victorian shawls beg for food in the pits. The play starts almost imperceptibly as one-by-one the actors climb onto the stage and start going about their business. Throughout the performance the stage is in motion, with the minimal scenery shifting to create bedrooms, offices, streets and cemeteries. There are some moments of great theatrical power, such as the entrance of the dazzling, ethereal Ghost of Christmas Past, or Tiny Tim singing Silent Night on an almost empty stage. By the time the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives, the actors have the audience eating out of their hands: the grave-side scenes are watched in engrossed silence. With the play so tightly focused on a single character, its success or failure rests on one central performance. John Ramm’s Scrooge has a wonderful scowl as the miserable miser on Christmas Eve, but is equally believable as the born again man dancing with joy on Christmas morning. The success of this transformation lifts the production beyond entertainment, and rouses some genuine Christmas spirit in the audience. There are minor quibbles. The play takes a while to find its tone, and given the number of references to the grinding Victorian poverty, the character’s clothes look remarkably pristine. But these aside, this is an impressive, professional show to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas in these money-obsessed times. A Christmas Carol is playing at the Rose Theatre, 24-26 High Street, Kingston until 3 January. Tickets from £7 to £29.50. Call the Box Office on 0871 230 1552, or visit the Rose Theatre website: http://www.rosetheatrekingston.org/ Picture credit: Chris Pearsall/Rose Theatre
|
