A Christmas Carol
Information
- Date
- 31st December 2024
- Society
- Victoria Hall Performing Arts Association
- Venue
- The Victoria Hall Theatre, Harlow
- Type of Production
- Play
- Director
- Simon Mawdsley
- Adapted by
- Simom Mawdsley
A Christmas Carol. Such a staple of any Christmas fayre for generation upon generation. Indeed, this production marks the fourth time the Victoria Hall Performing Arts Association has selected this for its annual Christmas show. So the Director, Simon Mawdsley had given himself quite a challenge to find a way of retaining the Dickensian spirit, while simultaneously appealing to modern audiences with fresh, unexpected elements.
He must be congratulated for achieving this, not only by reating a most watchable adaptation that he himself had written, but by very skilful staging and direction to give it just enough originality without impacting on the storytelling of Dickens. This mix of traditional and contemporary was enhanced not only by the set itself, but by the quietly haunting use of modern Christmas music, successfully counterbalancing the traditional carols.
The audience knew it was in for a treat before the curtains had even opened, with the playful lighting running down them as the routine announcements were made before the show began. Then, in stark contrast, the static, haunting image of the set, as the curtains were pulled back, left a lasting impression. The set, lit so effectively, drew the audience in to the centre, where the ghost of Jacob Marley stood, motionless, while his shadow grew behind him. This opening laid the foundations for keeping the audience in a heightened state of anticipation, so that when the booming ghostly voices echoed through the hall during the performance, everyone was readily scared without it being gimmicky.
Andrew Pegrum’s lighting, together with Will Jamieson’s sound design, generated the perfect atmosphere, working so well with the timeless set, that might not have appealed to purists, but that created the ideal backdrop for this Victorian tale that is still so pertinent today. It allowed the audience to enter into Scrooge’s dwelling, while at the same time wonder if he really did travel with the spirits to different locations, or simply dream the whole thing. It was deceptively simple and anonymous, while not losing any of the feeling of being right at the heart of wherever the spirits took us. Perhaps the only small detail that marred this was the removal of the candlesticks and small clock on the furniture next to where Scrooge was sleeping in some of the later scenes.
The props were excellent, the costumes superb. The scene changes were cleverly managed, with good use made of the voms as the actors entered, with great vitality, to perform their entertaining cameo roles, to detract from the crew when they needed to change the sets. This meant there was no loss of energy on stage, and the changes were as seamless as possible. The only clumsy change, was when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come made its exit, where the curtains behind were unfortunately visible as they were blowing, which was possibly due to there being so little room backstage, but the following moment was stunning, as the two massive slabs of Scrooge’s gravestone closed in front of the spirit as it exited.
There were too many cast and crew to mention individually, especially as so many of them had multiple roles in front of and behind the scenes. The crew certainly excelled, as did the cast, with no weak links, which is very commendable considering the large number of participants.
The characterisation of the Ghosts of Christmas past and present, impressively played by Daisy Mawdsley and Dan Rickets respectively, was another fine example of the well written and brilliantly executed merging of the old with the new. Daisy’s scatty, almost panto-like Ghost brought contemporary humour into scenes that simultaneously had the audience laughing, and then crying at the pathos of Scrooge’s past. The complete opposite to this was Dan’s spirit, a faithful copy of the original Ghost from Dickens’ first publication. Again, the tech team performed their tasks so well, that no-one realised that Dan was waiting patiently, up high, unseen in the darkness, until the moment the Ghost appeared to Scrooge.
Adam Thomson’s portrayal of Scrooge was a tour de force. Adam showed, yet again, his versatility as an actor, but it was not a one man show. Every single actor contributed to making this a fast-paced, slick production. The only time any of them stepped out of character for a moment was at the very end, when last-performance excitement got the better of some of them as they noticed what was going on to distract them above. Unfortunately this also distracted the audience, which was then led to believe something exciting was going to happen, but it didn’t! This was during the final scene, when they were singing a re-working of the Slade Christmas song. However, it was beautifully sung and considering the work and effort that had gone into this production they could maybe be forgiven!
The original is fast and fun, yet a choice had been made to make this rendition more sober, which pulled down the energy that had been present at Scrooge’s transformation in that it was not as lively and celebratory as might have been expected. However, changing the end of the tale from the original to a gathering at Scrooge’s dwelling was a joyful way of bringing everyone together for a well-deserved curtain call.
In conclusion, this production not only lived up to the reputation this society has developed over the years, but surpassed it in every aspect. Well done “one and all”.
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