A Christmas Carol

Just right for a pre-Christmas treat, BYTES’ musical production of Dickens’ classic tale certainly seemed to get a capacity crowd at the Royal Court Theatre into the festive spirit in fine style. Everyone knows the tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his eventual redemption (just in time for Christmas) and the familiar story was given a modern musical treatment by an enthusiastic gang of young performers. 

The large cast - far too many to name individually I’m afraid, so apologies in advance - embraced the enterprise with a determination to educate and entertain in equal measure, with Dickens’ charitable message coming across loud and clear. The opening number was cheerful enough, with a Victorian street scene creating a lovely stage picture and a jolly tune to kick things off. My loathing of backing tracks and piped in music knows no bounds and one of the main reasons for this is that it leaves no room for manoeuvre for the performers. Take a section a little too quickly and there’s an uncomfortable pause while the singer waits for the backing track to get to the right place before they carry on; take your time with a song and the backing track bounces along at its own pace, leaving the singer behind. Performing with a prerecorded music track needs a lot of rehearsal and a very clear understanding of how to make the performance seem ‘natural’. I much prefer a live band with a live performance in the theatre but I fully understand that it can’t always be an option for every society. Once or twice in this production there were a few musical hiccoughs but for the most part, the cast coped admirably.

Amy Roscoe as Scrooge had quite a task on her hands, as the miserly character rarely leaves the stage throughout the show. Being suitably fed up and miserable throughout the show, Amy managed to express a good deal of Scrooge’s misanthropy, particularly when it came to the singing. Amy mooched and shambled around the stage quite marvellously as the crabby miser, moaning incessantly with a face like a wet weekend at every turn of events: the contrast with the bounce and vigour of the opening chorus number was therefore presented very well. 

Scarlet Clawson was suitably cheery as Scrooge’s nephew and poor old Bob Cratchit shivered in the shop as played by Sarah Long. Things really start moving when Scrooge’s late and unlamented partner Jacob Marley pays a spectral visit. Josh Baldwin clearly relished the chance to clank his chains and do a bit of ghostly moaning as the first of Scrooge’s ghostly visitations, with a jolly team of menacing sprites in attendance. We were then spirited back in time to Scrooge’s childhood - and a glimpse into the ‘what could have been’ before he followed the path of Mammon - courtesy of a very sweet turn by Abbie Hill as The Ghost of Christmas Past. Josh Baldwin popped up again after a (fairly) quick change as cheery old Mr Fezziwig and Ella Gorai reappeared (having incurred Scrooge’s wrath as a charity collector earlier on) this time as Scrooge’s fiancée, who wisely realises early enough in proceedings that old Ebenezer is best left to his own devices. The Christmas party at Fezziwig’s showed us what joy can be brought into the hearts of the masses with a budget of next to nothing, just as long as your heart is in the right place: something that the audience of this version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ couldn’t fail to notice either.

Bringing us to the terrifying climax, Ella Gorai was a wonderfully sinister Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and paraded around quite eerily, pointing the way to Scrooge’s potential future lest he mend his ways. Like myself at her age, Ella is no doubt learning that being quite tall tends to make you a natural choice for playing certain roles - with me, it was policemen or villains - and Ella got the plum job of playing the most dramatic of Scrooge’s spectral visitations. Summer Pilkington tugged at everyone’s heartstrings as Tiny Tim although saying that, for a lad with a bad leg she fairly whizzed about the stage. The rest of the Cratchit family excelled in combining tragedy with comedy as they gathered for Christmas dinner in what was my favourite scene of the show, due in no small part to Hannah Goggins as a very forthright Mrs Cratchit. With a wonderfully Dickensian name thrown in for good measure, Miss Goggins was clearly born to the role and was a real tonic! Another wonderful character in the show came in the shape of Cerys Pearson’s Bill Cribshaw (a character I don’t remember from the book and had obviously been thrown in to proceedings to liven things up a bit) who was a real delight. Popping up at the beginning of the show and then really coming to his own in the grand finale, Bill perfectly captured the rosy-cheeked cheeky charm of a Victorian Christmas and his closing number prompted an appropriately rousing singalong (and dance-along) with the rest of the cast. A lively breath of fresh air and a great characterisation from Cerys which was much appreciated.

The animated projections at the rear of the stage painted a lovely picture and should have made for quick and easy changes of scene but for the fact that there seemed to be some confusion as to which bits of scenery, stage dressing and props needed to be moved, where they were going when they were being moved, or how long they needed to be left on. That said, I did attend the first performance - although a tech/dress rehearsal really should have sorted out what was going and on and off and when - and I’m sure these little issues would have been ironed out subsequently. The lighting plot seemed to favour certain areas of the stage over others but Rob and Ian on sound made sure things ran smoothly from their end. Although there were a few obvious pauses while characters swapped from one costume to another, there weren’t too many hiccoughs to spoil things in any meaningful way here. The musical numbers were fairly unmemorable for the most part - a fault of the musical score rather than this performance it has to be said - but the cast did what they could with them and, taken all of a piece, BYTES managed to create a jolly enough afternoon at the theatre given the material they had to work with.

These small criticisms aside however, it has to be said that the very large audience revelled in the theatrical entertainment before them and as a seasonal precursor to panto, the good folk of Bacup lapped it up and cheered the cast at every turn. The young performers were obviously enjoying themselves too which is what it’s really all about. A musical slice of Dickens, a hearty tale with a moral or two, an enthusiastic young cast, an appreciative audience and wonderful hospitality: what more could be asked for on a cold November afternoon?! My thanks to all at the Royal Court and may you continue in your endeavours with a cheery heart - just like Bill Cribshaw and the gang.

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