The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Christmas Carol: A Fairy Tale at Wilton’s Music Hall

Christmas Carol: A Fairy Tale at Wilton’s Music Hall | Theatre review
6 December 2019
Grace Walsh
Avatar
Grace Walsh
6 December 2019

With every new adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol comes a certain amount of risk – that it will be too similar or too removed from the original. But Wilton Music Hall’s spectacular fairy tale reimagining of this festive classic finds the sweet spot between the two, transporting 21st-century feminism into Victorian London (with a spot of time travel for good measure).

The play, written by Piers Torday and masterfully directed by Stephanie Street, follows a woman named Fan Scrooge (Sally Dexter) – sister of the infamous Ebeneezer and widow of the first ghostly visitor, Jacob Marley (Brandan Hooper). Scrooge isn’t trying to have it all and in fact, she’s trying to have very little to do with anyone or anything, especially Christmas.

Cue an unwelcome visit from her deceased husband, who warns her that she will be visited by three ghosts in an attempt to turn her cold heart warm. The first (Ruth Ollman) shows her Christmases of the past, when her brother came home from school for the holidays and her father tightened his purse strings. The second (Edward Harrison) is a ghost living a little too much in the moment. The third (Chrisara Agor/Ruth Ollman), undeniably the most unsettling of all, reveals to Scrooge the things to come.

All actors deliver captivating performances in their variety of roles, swapping between each one with marvellous ease. From accents to puppetry, every cast member deserves their own standing ovation. However, the costumes, beautifully crafted and wonderfully imaginative, are what make this play an unmissable experience.  No spoilers – but the second ghost will leave you in awe.

However, this is not a simple rendition of A Christmas Carol with a gender swap. A carefully constructed narrative of female intersectionality is woven throughout, with comments on familial labour raising cheers from the audience. Scrooge is determined not to live in the world that men have made for her, having carved her own path in life in spite of their oppression. But where she transcends her time in some areas, she stays resolute in others and it’s down to her fellow characters to change her ways. Dispersing seeds of encouragement for both Scrooge and audience alike, they ask us to consider those less fortunate and how all they want is what everyone else has.

This magical and heartwarming adaption of the Dickens classic is not one to be missed this Christmas season.

★★★★★

Grace Walsh
Photos: Nobby Clark

Christmas Carol is at Wilton’s Music Hall from 29th November until 4th January 2020. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Redemption Room at Secret Theatre Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

24, 23, 22 at Chronic Insanity Online

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Southwark Playhouse Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Typical at Soho Theatre

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Grimm Tales for Fragile Times and Broken People

★★★★★
Emma-Jane Betts
Read More

Gatsby at Cadogan Hall: An interview with Jodie Steele and Ross William Wild

Michael Higgs
Read More

Living Record Festival: Ain’t No Female Romeo

★★★★★
Brooke Snowe
Read More

West End Musical Drive In Online

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

Hymn at the Almeida Theatre Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Grace Walsh

Christmas Carol

★★★★★

Dates

29th November 2019 - 4th January 2020

Price

£10-£36

Links & directions

TwitterInstagramFacebookWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Detroit Stories – Alice Cooper
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Judas and the Black Messiah
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Laura Mvula – Under a Pink Moon
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Toll
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Black Bear
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Big vs Small
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • No táxi do Jack (Jack’s Ride): An interview with director Susana Nobre
    Berlinale
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch): An interview with stars Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert
    Berlinale
  • I’m Your Man: An interview with Maria Schrader and Jan Schomburg
    Berlinale
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch) press conference
    Berlinale
  • Moxie
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Souad
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Rosalia brings pure, unadulterated energy to Brixton Academy | Live review
Servant | Show review