Chris Eldon Lee reviews “A Christmas Carol” which is at Birmingham Repertory until Saturday 4th January 2014
“Marley was dead to begin with”…and Scrooge wasn’t very well either.
So the multi-cultural Christmas Carol cast at Birmingham Rep was somewhat shuffled the night I saw the show. Jo Servi was promoted at short notice and proved to be an admirable replacement – my first black Scrooge – as he danced, sang and growled his way through a huge, demanding part. His stammering attempt to actually say “Merry Christmas” is a lovely touch.
Naturally there were repercussions down the batting order too but the ensemble coped exceptionally well and, if you’d not bought a programme, it was far from obvious.
However, as the indisposition is only temporary, let me focus on the un-shifting structure of Bryony Lavery’s piece and Tessa Walker’s production of it.
What Lavery brings to Dickens is her thinking outside the poor box. In this version she imagines the territory before Jacob Marley’s appearance in which the ghosts of Victorian England meet to decide what is to be done about Scrooge. There are shadowy figures hanging off ledges and sitting on chairs high up on the walls of designer Ti Green’s brooding and towering tenement set. “How is it to be done,” they ask each other. “Let there be a counting house!” They are collectively in charge as they arrange Scrooge’s long night of redemption.
Marley is corporeal enough (Marc Akinforlarin stepping in) and the Ghost of Christmas Past (Guy Lewis) feels almost sidelined as he perches on a ledge to watch the plan unfold. But the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is a massive second half surprise that draws upon War Horse technology and actually sweeps Scrooge to his doom…casting skeletal shadows across the arena in the process. By this time Tim is a ghost too – his tiny chair sitting forlornly on an empty stage as he watches wistfully from a high window, silently urging Scrooge to change his fate.
The production team has spotted that the ghostly encounters in “A Christmas Carol” are stories within Scrooge’s story. So towards the back wall is a proscenium arch with tall red curtains through which the apparition scenes emerge. They are plays within a play; a well-considered, over-arching idea.
But there’s magic in the detail too as the meagre Christmas dinner at the Cratchit household is juxtaposed with Nephew Fred’s banquet – and I loved the illuminated frocks as Fezziwig’s party and the dancing joy of Scrooge’s debtors at the news of his demise, which contrasts sharply with a most moving deathbed lament.
Jason Carr’s songs are clever, witty and almost operatic at times – the musical ‘20 Questions’ is a hoot – and the clever choreography has characters skating without ice.
After two captivating hours have rushed by, the curtain call is unexpectedly interrupted by Scrooge’s wagging finger so Lavery’s ghosts can hint at what happens to him next….but that you must see for yourself.
Visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk for information about Birmingham Rep.