The Alexandra Palace Theatre is a beautiful, apt venue for A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story. Grand, but also slightly decaying around the edges. It’s a big space to fill but one that makes this adaptation by Mark Gatiss feel like a special event.
Dickens’ novella is a simple but timeless tale. Penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge sees the error of his ways after he is visited by a success of apparitions. No longer will be a mean-spirited miser, he will be full of the joys of Christmas for the rest of his life.
In this production the scene is set with Scrooge (Matthew Cottle) doing his bookkeeping oat a perilously high desk. When his colleague dies his first though is to snuff out his candle: “waste not want not”.
But Jacob Marley (Neil Morrissey) is soon haunting Scrooge and is followed, one by one, by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future...
Through these visitations we see flashbacks of Scrooge’s life. How he was a cheerful boy and a dashing if money-fixated young man, until fate deal him an unkind blow.
It’s certainly a lively and interesting production, directed by Adam Penford, and one that’s never boring, even if some scenes – a Bridgerton-style dance for example – come close to outstaying their welcome. The second half is particularly brisk in the way that it portrays Scrooge ditching his bah humbug vibe and turning over a new leaf.
At times, though, it feels as if it is hedging its bets. Is it aimed at adults or children? Both I expect. Wispy white spirits on sticks float around but are never quite scary enough. There’s a cute puppet dog which makes you expect more puppetry to come but there isn’t anything more like this.
And If Neil Morrissey is supposed to be terrifying as the chained up Marley he doesn’t fully convince as a man behaving clankily. From what I can recall it is pretty faithful to the text while cutting chunks out. A narrator (Michael Mears) at the side of the stage keeps things moving with some original Dickensian excerpts.
Matthew Cottle shines, however, in the lead role, steering clear of Faginisms and humanising Scrooge rather than portraying him as a cheese-paring cartoon. The set, by Paul Wills, high cabinets and with a grey, bleak city of London skyline in the background, is particularly evocative,.
There is no shortage of Christmas Carol productions this year. I’m particularly looking forward to Count Arthur Strong’s version at the Bloomsbury Theatre in December, where i expect there will be more laughs.
This outing is pretty decent though and if you live locally it’s certainly worth your time. Ebenezer Good? Well, let's say Ebenezer Quite Good
Until Jan 4. Tickets and info here.
Pictures by Mark Douet
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