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A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story

A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story

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13 April 2023

A winter ghost story? Bah humbug! It's Christmas Eve. As the cold, bleak night draws in, the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by the spirit of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. Bound in chains as punishment for a lifetime of greed, the unearthly figure explains it isn't too late for Scrooge to change his miserly ways in order to escape the same fate. But first he'll have to face three more eerie encounters... Mark Gatiss' spine-tingling adaptation is faithful to the heart and spirit of Charles Dickens' much-loved festive ghost story – with an emphasis on the ghostly. Recommended: 10+ Production Shots - Taken by Martin Ogden REVIEWS Number9 - John Waterhouse
The story of the miser Scrooge’s redemption has become as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus, festive decorations and mince pies. The amount of adaptations and versions almost rival any Shakespeare play with the Muppets, Blackadder and East Enders each having famously presented their take on the story alongside countless film and TV versions with the lead role going to actors as varied as Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart, George C. Scott and Albert Finney.  There have been musical adaptations, animations, comedy versions and modern re-settings (notably ‘Scrooged’ in 1980’s New York with Bill Murray). Against all this, Altrincham Garrick presented a new adaptation that aimed to be as true as possible to the original 1847 story.
The look of this production was very ‘gothic’ with a grey set (resembling cold stone), black costumes and a sombre appearance of bookcases covered in drapes and papers littering the stage floor. This was in keeping with Dickens’s own views of the harshness of life in Victorian times and there was no attempt to find humour in any of the characters or their surroundings.
A key aspect of this production was the presentation of Scrooge; not an amusingly grumpy miser but an aggressive tyrant who was not above hitting people with his stick and striking fear into those who encountered him. Jonathan Black’s interpretation of Scrooge ensured that he could not attract any kind of tragic sympathy; this was a genuine villain in a world of cruelty and injustice. No attempt was made however to change the traditional countenance of the ghosts who respectively for Christmas’s past, present and future were a whimsical fairy, a jovial character modelled on Father Christmas and the Spirit of Death.
A perhaps unusual aspect of this rendition of A Christmas Carol was the transformation, once Scrooge has seen the error of his way. His glee at finding himself still alive and not too late for Christmas was in greater contrast than usual to his former self, with the character suddenly transforming from a figure of hate to one of sympathy (certainly in sharp contrast to many other adaptations!). This change was carried through into the overall show with all the characters suddenly appearing in vibrant reds, blues and greens rather than uniform sombre black. This effect was further enhanced by the sudden appearance of a choir and hand-bell ringers; everything really had gone from black & white to colour and a feeling dull morbidity transformed into celebration and good cheer.
To fully tell the story, a certain amount of stylisation was needed for the stage and Gatiss used a cast of ten who variously played all the characters (apart from Scrooge) in addition to providing a narrator and collectively becoming an ensemble for street crowds, party goers, funeral mourners, and all the other presentations of life in Dickensian times. This was handled well; sometimes it being hard to tell which ensemble members had played which characters through a combination of excellent costumes and strong acting. A back curtain with slits allowed for the rapid entry and exit of the ensemble and this was overall a very slick production. Credit must also be given to some very effective sound effects that certainly enhanced the ghostly feel of the performance.
This was an interesting return to the authentic concept of what ‘A Christmas Carol’ was meant to be; a genuinely disturbing tale of social injustice set against the backdrop of a ghost story, tempered by some scenes of good-natured humanity and festive merriment. An enthusiastic cast and some skilful direction did full just to the adaptation providing a perfect entre for the start of the festive season.
  StageStruck - Rick Bowen THIS is a story I know backwards and yet the redemption of one of one of our most famous skinflints still captures my imagination. Jonathan Black gives the performance of his amateur acting career to date as Scrooge, a man obsessed with making money and oblivious to the plight of the poor around him. Black is ultimately convincing as a man whose money making ways are most memorably challenged by three festive spirits. Barry Purves’ production also captivated a large group of young people in the Garrick audience on opening night and will hopefully convince them to look beyond a screen for their entertainment. The supernatural encounters the central character encounters are also genuinely scary and I also really liked the way in which the production uses music to heighten the tension and provide a stirring seasonal climax to a hugely enjoyable evening out. Even the real life Scrooges watching this are sure to be won over and turned into fans of the impending seasonal to be cheerful thanks to the consistently creative Purves and his backstage team. Scrooge’s encounters with the supernatural are also genuinely scary. But this production of A Christmas Carol isn’t just the Jonathan Black/Barry Purves show. There’s so much more to enjoy, like the performance of the supporting cast. Now here’s the bad news - the production is a complete sell out. If you hear of any returns snap them up. You certainly won’t be disappointed. This is the best Christmas present Altrincham Garrick could possibly give us theatregoers.   North West End UK - Hannah Wilde The Christmas season is well and truly on now, with Altrincham Garrick’s performance of A Christmas Carol kicking off the festive roster. This production had flashes of theatrical excellence, but sadly there were a number of areas that just didn’t capture the audience in the way director Barry J C Purves would perhaps have wanted. The lead antagonist, Jonathan Black as Ebenezer Scrooge, gave a fantastically nuanced and well-delivered performance – the audience really bought into him in the first act as the well-known miser who struck fear into the heart of the people of Victorian London, yet in the second act you could really believe his redemption after seeing the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Given the supernatural nature of the story, it was a difficult narrative to portray onstage – however, director Purves and his team did put on a good show. The iconic scene where the knocker transforms into Jacob Marley’s face left a lot to be desired, but other areas (like the costume developed for the Ghost of Christmas Present, as well as the ghostly lighting and sound effects used to portray the paranormal) did give the performance more credence. That said, from a technical standpoint I do think the lead characters (Scrooge, Cratchit, Jacob Marley and Tom) would have benefitted immensely from the use of onstage microphones to keep the narrative on track. There were some areas of the show that can’t be overlooked – the stylised sequence at the Cratchit dinner table which involved some form of interpretive movement with napkins was disturbingly jarring and didn’t fit in with the overall tone and style of the piece, while the creative decision to cut to the interval just after the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Present was equally jarring, leaving the audience (and myself) confused and a little disorientated. However, many of the elements of the show were very good – the period costumes were a great addition to set the scene, the staging was simple yet hauntingly effective, and every cast member delivered their parts with gusto and panache. Of note was the show’s finale, which saw the unexpected arrival of the full Altrincham Garrick Show Choir (led by Choir Master Dan McDwyer) to finish out the show with Victorian classic carol “O Come All Ye Faithful” – a fitting end to its namesake show, A Christmas Carol. All in all, although this particular Christmas Carol failed to hit all the notes, it was a very nice harmonious piece that left the audience feeling festive and fulfilled. A Christmas Carol is playing at The Altrincham Garrick Playhouse from Monday 20th to Saturday 25th November 2023 and is sold out, check daily for returns.
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