In 1843, Charles Dickens could not have imagined that 178 years into the future, people would still be discovering and falling in love with a short book that he wrote in just six weeks.
Not only that, but he would have been baffled when you told him about cinematic, television, radio, podcast, audiobook and stage adaptations, okay maybe not stage because he had already seen his work performed, but I can only imagine the look on his face when he found out that one day a talking frog puppet would speak his lines.
This multitude of adaptations is something of an obsession of mine, you can keep your stamps and football stickers because I collect A Christmas Carol. That is to say that I own a large quantity of books all bearing the same story but with different covers and illustrations, and I attempt to watch as many versions as I can at Christmas. Actually, I now have to start in November to get them all in and I can tell you the story pretty much word-perfect, as I have done on stage and audio recordings.
Every adaptation brings with it a sprinkling of artistic licence to flesh out A Christmas Carol and create a back story; Alistair Simm and Michael Horden’s takeover of Mr Jorkin’s business, Kelsey Grammar watching his father being taken to debtor’s prison, Albert Finney’s visit to hell to work as Lucifer’s clerk, Guy Pearce revisiting his childhood abuse in boarding school and saying ‘fuck’ a lot, and a multitude of singing fruit and veg. As long as you stick to the formula you can do what you like in the middle.
All of this brings me to the adaptation that started my 2021 viewing season, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story, running at the Nottingham Playhouse until November 20th before transferring to London.
Adaptation duties fall to acclaimed actor, comedian, writer and director Mark Gatiss. Having already breathed new life into the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, M.R. James and Bram Stoker, it was only a matter of time before Gatiss turned his attention (not to mention his well-documented love of horror and ghost stories) to Charles Dickens.
What he has achieved with a small space and cast is nothing short of genius. Having watched a huge amount of adaptations ranging from brilliant to absolute rubbish, I can safely say that what I witnessed at the Playhouse was one of the best and would have Dickens himself wiping away the tears while applauding until his hands hurt.
Anything I say about the show itself could ruin it for anyone with tickets so I will limit myself to first of all paying tribute to the cast, sharing multiple roles but owning each part with such skill you hardly notice.
The set design deserves an award of its own, and I don’t give anything away by warning you to not take your eyes off the stage for even a second because you risk missing something.
This retelling of the story will appeal as an introduction to the festive classic while at the same time having the power to astonish Scrooge trainspotters like myself.
My only hope now is that the company film it so I can add it to my special shelf.
A Christmas Carol runs at The Nottingham Playhouse until 20 November https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/a-christmas-carol-a-ghost-story
Review by Steve Oliver
Steve is a local writer, filmmaker and A Christmas Carol superfan
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You can find some of Steve’s other A Chritmas Carol work here:
A Christmas Carol | Lorna and Steve Oliver | lorna (bandcamp.com)
