A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
19 December 2006 to 12 January 2007
The Shaw Theatre
It’s Christmas Eve 1843 and Jacob Marley visits Ebeneezer Scrooge. There’s only one problem. Marley is dead. Join Scrooge on his magical journey of self realisation and redemption.
Faithful to Dickens’ text, the world of Tiny Tim, the Ghosts and all Dickens’ other marvellous characters is brought to life with songs and life size puppets.
Dickens’ story helped define the image of a Victorian Christmas. Let this new adaptation make Christmas special for you.
Production stills copyright © Asa Goldschmied
Reviews
‘It is practically impossible to destroy Dickens’ tale of the miser visited by three ghosts who show him the error of his ways. Thankfully Chris Pickles’ adaptation relies heavily on the original text and much of the rich dialogue remains intact. The cast of eight performers play all the roles supplemented by a selection of puppets of various size and form. Ian Bass makes for a fun Fred, with a collection of adult size children at his feet and a bouncing wife brought to life by Kali Peacock. Dermot Canavan is full of Christmas spirit as the delightful Fezziwig and Henry Everett is perfectly cast as Ebeneezer, scaring the children in the audience more than some of the ghosts.’
The Stage
‘The cast of eight narrates and sometimes sings the story of the miserly Scrooge and his path to redemption with great energy, each taking on a variety of the weird and wonderful characters that people the book … Henry Everett excells as Scrooge … The cast’s exuberance is catching … while the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present are among the many big surprises on offer.’
Camden New Journal
‘Maureen Freedman’s witty, black-and-white cut-out designs are soon wheeled on to liven things up and gradually the famous tale of redemption takes its hold … the spirit of the past, and the huge and sinister spirit of the future, plus the presence of puppets elsewhere, are what lifts this show out of the ordinary.’
Time Out
‘A varied bunch of puppets – from life-size papier mache creatures to two-dimensional bits of floating scenery, all bring the story to life. Tiny Tim is particularly poignant as the blank-faced puppet whose disembodied voice forever asks when he’ll grow big … The company work well as an ensemble, boosting their fresh interpretation in a production that is largely faithful to the original text … Pickles is helped by Paul Knight’s songs and Maureen Freedman’s very pretty design, suggesting that the whole drama leapt fully-fledged from the beautiful illustrations Dickens ensured accompanied the story’s first publication.’
Ham & High
- Cast
- Ian Bass
- Dermot Canavan
- Nicholas Chambers
- Henry Everett
- Nigel Lister
- Richard Mark
- Kali Peacock
- Michael Rouse
- Adapted & Directed by
- Chris Pickles
- Composer & Musical Supervisor
- Paul Knight
- Associate Director
- Ken Bentley
- Set and Puppet Design
- Maureen Freedman
- Costume Design
- Adrian Lillie
- Lighting Design
- Derek Carlyle
- Musical Director
- Richard Mark
- Choreography
- Michael Rouse
- Production Manager
- Derek Carlyle
- Deputy Stage Manager
- Jo Strickland
- Assistant Stage Manager
- Amber Elliott
- Producer
- Crispin Harris
- Associate Producer
- Jo Mackey
- Assistant to the Producer
- Ken Bentley
- Marketing Consultant
- David Shepherd
- Press
- Impressive PR
- Production Photography
- Asa Goldschmied
- Puppets made by
- Antoinette Brown
- Clio Brown
- Janine Cooper
- Mahni Dare
- Elves n Elements
- Maureen Freedman
- Bonita Lubbe
- Matthew Richards
- Barry Saltman
- Tinka Slavicek
- Roxane Steen
- Tarryn Thomson
- Elizabeth Thompson