A Christmas Carol

This was a relatively new version of the Dickens story by Chris Blackwood and Piers Charter Robinson. Elaina made good use of the stage area with plenty of interesting movement and with nice interpretation of the familiar story. The musical side was in the very capable hands of Nathan with good tempo and a fine sound from stage and pit. In this version Scrooge is on stage for most of the time and a strong performance is vital to a successful production. There was no problem here as Dan Bates provided an excellent portrayal of Scrooge both dramatically and musically. He was very well supported by the rest of the cast, not least Paul Norris and Sue Hagan with fine performances as the Cratchits. Mike Steed was great as the Jacob Marley Ghost and Carl McGarrigle and Laurie Trott put a lot of energy into the Fezziwigs. The younger cast certainly played their part with good performances all round, especially Evan Hagan, a touching Tiny Tim. The choreography and dance were fine especially the background dancing which fitted beautifully. The use of back projection worked very well in setting the scenes and, together with the lighting and costumes enhanced the visual impact. It is certainly a popular Christmas show judging by the audience response and it provided good entertainment.

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