Scrooge's Christmas Visit

‘God Bless Us Every One.’ Those iconic words of Tiny  Tim take on an ironic hue in this beautifully written dramatic sequel to ‘A Christmas Carol’, ’Scrooge’s Christmas Visit’, where the playwright, Julie Daniel, transports us twenty years forward from Scrooge’s epiphany to the London of the 1860s where social reform and the blossoming of the best of Victorian England is waiting to happen, but the adult Tim is more interested in wealth accumulation than distribution.

His seasonal journey towards reinvention as a philanthropist is delightfully captured in this Christmas play performed by CATS in the eminently suitable setting of the 13th century St. Leonard’s Church. Admirably directed by the author and Anne Allured, simple yet effective scenery and props produced the atmosphere necessary to bring home the ever affecting message of what Christmas is really about. I applaud author, director and cast for ensuring that the heartfelt moral of the piece remained to the fore throughout without succumbing to caricature or pastiche. Here was a real attempt to capture the deprivation and immorality beneath the surface of Victorian society and to stay true to Dickens’ vision and rationale.

And how wonderfully captured it was: from the smell of the broth and the home baked bread at the soup kitchen for the poor to the excellent costumes, terrific make up, well painted scenery and well chosen props where scene changes moved seamlessly and the church setting was used to relevant effect with the aid of clever and subtle lighting and sound, all was in place for an authentic and affecting piece of theatre.

However, as we know, even a well dressed play will stand or fall on its delivery. In this too, we were not disappointed. Actors representing a wide range of ages portrayed their characters with focus and clarity: we needed to believe in them and we most certainly became caught up in their portrayals of rich and poor, old and young, good and not so good.

Special mention must be given to the consummate performances of Nick Grantham as the ghostly Ebenezer ( I was reminded of that great actor, John Le Mesurier, with the impressive grace, sincerity and timing) and Steve Kaye as a most menacing villain in the Bill Sikes’ mould who lifted the performance energy of the play with every appearance, but all actors without exception were very fine. The children played by Joe and Eve Daniel, Helen Murphy,Fraser Ellson and Layla Keating gave us truthful and moving insights into the story whilst Andrew Moore as Bernard, Jayne Kaye as the ‘fallen’ Belinda Cratchit and Richard Reynolds and Rachel McCreath as the Peter Cratchits with Belinda Moore as Martha held the tale together with rock solid performances of note: all totally believable.

I loved the comedy provided in a most unlikely setting by Vivien Reffin and Liz Murphy as Edie and Maude and remain unsure whether they will appreciate me saying that they were most convincing and hilarious grotesques. Stuart Rupp and Pete King gave sterling support as both poor bystanders and scene changers.

Phil Ward as Tim played the challenging part of a man who changes and is redeemed with considerable skill and aplomb whilst his wife Ida played by Pippa Ellson showed us how a facial expression and the fine tuning of a line can bring life and meaning to a play.

Congratulations to the large production team for their hard work and effort which reaped huge rewards for their audience on a cold December night: the warm welcome received from the front of stage helpers compensated for any inclemency.

If I have any small gripes, then they are concerned with anachronisms: words unknown in that period cropped up, probably due more to understandable improvisation of the moment from the actors than anything written by the author; music as yet unwritten in 1863 or 4 when I am assuming the play was set was most beautifully played but missed that authentic note which can create a unique historical context and whilst there were some fabulous costumes in keeping with the times, some hats and many shoes and the occasional wristwatch were entirely out of place; Tiny Tim’s financial ledger was clearly a musical score. That being said, I would have enjoyed even more music and even more parallels with the way we live in the Twenty First Century: have our dreams and Dickens’ dreams of equality moved on to fruition or is poverty still ever present even in the post-Scrooge era? As the line in the play reminds us : where you prosper you have to provide.

All is well in the end, of course, with Tim telling us that he was shown the right path. After seeing Catworth Amateur Theatrical Society’s ‘Scrooge’s Christmas Visit’, I feel that I was definitely on the right path that led me to an uplifting and assured evening of theatrical goodness.

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