A Christmas Carol, RSC Stratford Upon Avon, 5*****: Rod Dungate
Stratford Upon Avon
A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens, adapted by David Edgar
5*****
RSC, Theatre
Runs 2h 25m, one interval. Till 20 January 2019
@TheRSC
@ReviewsGate
Review: Rod Dungate, 15 December 2018
Could this be your best present this year?
A little dicky-bird had whispered in y shell-like that the RSC’s A Christmas Carol in some respects may be even more beautiful than last year. This was a statement, frankly, I doubted, how could this be brought about? But the fact is, adapter David Edgar, director Rachel Kavanaugh, and the RSC team have brought about this miracle. How they have achieved this, I do not know.
But this year’s Carol appears to have further enriched the fertile merging of Dickens and Edgar views of our social malaise while never losing sight of the requirements of a successful Christmas tale. The emotional highs are higher and the depths of despair deeper. With superb honesty in the playing this terrific cast draw us to the very edge of sentimentality but support every moment with honesty and truth. There is no chance (to borrow from Oscar) that we may view the death of Tiny Tim and laugh; no, no, out come our handkerchiefs.
Aden Gillett’s Scrooge is a complex creation. Gillett never misses an opportunity to draw out the humour in the script, yet with consummate skill he colours the language so that Scrooge’s loveless childhood is ever seen to inform his present. Gillett can do this in an instant, even with a single word: ‘Home’. Scrooge’s abuse, the terrible abuse of children in cruel Victorian enforced labour, are heart-rending kept centre-stage, both by the Ignorance and Want motif and, what a moment!, when Dickens reveals his own background – powerful playing from Joseph Timms here.
Rachel Kavanaugh directs the play’s large forces with an eye to both the tiny detail and the whole. The rhythm of the show subtly shifts, holding our interest. And the big scents (the Fezziwigs, the Cratchits) are never generalised and we are drawn into their world. We care about these people.
There is so much to delight; but not room enough to cover it all. But note must be taken of Danielle Henny’s down-to-earth Ghost of Christmas Present – funny yet with a steely resolve to get her point across to Scrooge.
It is all one of the best seasonal gifts you could want
Charles Dickens: Joseph Timms
John Forster: Beruce Khan
1843
Ebenezer Scrooge: : Aden Gillett
Caroller: Abbey Elston / Eve Hatz / Pheobe Nock
Mrs Trowel: Danielle Henry
Lady Tibshelf: Claire Carrie
Bob Cratchit: Gerrard Carey
Mrs Baudock: Victoria Blunt
Mr Baldock: Sam Jennkins-Shaw
Fred: Tom Byrne
Tim: Thomas Dawson / Tommy Duxbury / Kieron Lilly / Benjamin Pritchett
Ghost of Jacob Marley: Stephen Elliot
Ghost of Christmas ast: Claire Carrie
1800
Boy Scrooge: Jack Hobson / Joe Mc Cormack / Giannia Saraceni-Gunner
Fanny: Rachel Winters
Coachman: Sam Jenkins-Shaw
1810
Mr Fezziwig: Clive Harward
Mrs Fezziwig: Danielle Henry
Celia: Bethany Linsdale
Isabel: Jessica Murrain
Mrs Snapchat: Emma Pallant
Mr Tumbler: Steven Elliott
Herr Uber: Matthew Dale
Slingshot: Joseph Prowen
Wicker: Kwami Odeen
Tinder: Ollie Elston Rhys Mulligan / William O’Halloran
Mr Hinge: Sam Jenkins-Shaw
1836
Catherine: Sally Cheng
Victoria: Abbey Elston / Eve Hatz / Pheobe Nock
Henry: Jack Hobson / Joe McCormack / Gianni Saracini-Gunner
Carlotte: Anastasia Bridgewater / Louisa Cooper / Emilia Danks-Smith
Their Father: Sam Jenkins-Shaw
Doctor’s Boy: Ollie Elston / Rhys Mulligan / William O’Halloran
Charwoman: Danielle Henry
Doctor: Matthew Dale
1843
Ghost of Christmas Present: Danielle Henry
Jane: Rachel Winters
Her Aunt: Claire CarriAmy: Bethany Linsdale
Mrs Cratchit: Emma Pollant
Martha Cratchit: Bethany Linsdale
Belinda Cratchit: Sally Cheng
Peter Cratchit: Ollie Elston / Rhys Mulligan / William O”Halloran
Susan Cratchit: Anastasia Bridgeater / Louisa Cooper / Emiilia Kanks0 Smith
Joseph Crachit: Jack Hobson / Joe McCormack / Gianni Saraceni-Gunner
Caroline: Victoria Blunt
George: Sam Jenkins-shaw
Robert: Clive Hayward
Lucy: Jessica Murrain
Ignorance: Jack Hobon / Joe McCormack / Gianni Saraceni-Gunner
Want: Anastasia Bridgewater / Louisa Cooper / Emilia Danks-Smth
Ghost of Christas Future: Abbey Elston / Eve Hatz / Pheobe Nock
The Future
Fist Businessman: Steen Elliott
Second Businessman: Matthew Dale
Old Joe: Clive Hayward
Laundress: Claire Carrie
Young Man: Goey Phillips
Sings: Samantha Hull / Shiv Rabheru
Director: Rachel Kavanaugh
Designer: Stephen Brimston Lewis
Lighting Designer: Tim Mitchell
Composer: Cathering Jayes
Sound Designer: Fergus O’Hare
Choreographer: Georgina Lamb
Illusionist: Ben Hart
Assistant Director: David Siebert
Musical Director: Malcolm Forbes-Peckham
Casting Director:Helena Palmer, Matthew Desbury
(Full credits will follow)