Simply Christmas

A reminder that engaging theatre doesn’t always need lots of bells and whistles to impress. Naomi MacKay watched A Christmas Carol at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre’s Norman Bragg Studio, on until Sunday 17 December.

Charles Dickens’ tale of A Christmas Carol is familiar to most of us, whether we’ve seen the classic film starring Alec Guinness, or a modern adaptation such as Bill Murray’s Scrooged or even The Muppets Christmas Carol.

The Dickens Theatre Co brings a simple, but exceedingly clever version of the tale, as we meet Ellen Ternan and George Dolby, who are forced to put on a two-person performance when the rest of their theatre company are stranded thanks to problems with the trains.

Ellen (Hannah Blaikie) and George (Ryan Philpott) set themselves the task of performing all the characters in the tale – Ellen as Scrooge (and a few other characters) and George as everyone from Bob Cratchit to all three Ghosts of Christmas.

The staging is simple, but with clever lighting, vivid descriptions and a hosts of much-loved characters brought to life by the pair, the 75-minute show moves swiftly, as miserly Scrooge learns the errors of his ways as he takes a look at the Christmases as a boy and as a young man, and what his future might look like.

As we all know, there’s a happy ending, and with a rousing rendition of We Wish you A Merry Christmas, the audience is all set for the festive season.

With A Christmas Carol on the curriculum for GCSE English, it’s a great chance to bring the story to life for teenagers. 

Tickets are available at: www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury (bkg fee) or call 0844 871 7615 (Fees apply. Calls cost up to 7p per min plus your phone company’s access charge).