A Christmas Carol

This show is always a crowd-puller and crowd-pleaser at Christmas and indeed Abbey Players played to a good and very appreciative house.

We were treated to a good set, some finely-sourced costumes and great lighting which all added to this wonderful tale. The ensemble was well rehearsed and obviously enjoyed every minute they were one stage. They supported the principal cast well and gave life to each scene.

Simon John had to step in as Scrooge on the evening I attended as Lyn Williams had been taken ill, but this did not detract in any way from the production. All credit must go to Simon for performing the role with such great aplomb. Stepping into his original role of Christmas Present was the director Kathryn Wheel who did a good job considering the adversity facing the cast. Mark Warren was a suitably ghoulish Jacob Marley, and Christmas Past and Christmas Future were played well by Carys Comley and Leanne Noble respectively. The team of Young Marley, Young Ebeneezer and Emily were given great characterisation by Ben Walker, Josh Crawshaw and Sarah Clatworthy who gave a wonderful performance vocally. Fred and Sally were played well by Simon Lloyd-Jones and Jessica Aubin and giving huge life and vigour to their performances as Mr and Mrs Fezziwig were Ashley Eynon-Davies and Joanne Griffiths. Lovely cameo performance were given by Aaron Van Wyk as the twelve year old Scrooge, Ellie Morgan as his sister Fanny and Beverley Harries as their mother Mrs Scrooge.

The Cratchit family worked very well on stage together and lovely performances were given by Cole Davies as Tiny Tim, Cath Van Wyk as Mrs Cratchit and Dale Gravell as Bob Cratchit.

A very entertaining was had by the entire audience and many thanks to the company for a lovely evening that I am sure sent everyone out feeling that Christmas was well on its way.

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