Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Reading Rep Theatre

Charles Dickens's story of festive goodwill has been told and retold countless times, to the point at which its most famous lines - "bah humbug", "God bless us every one", et cetera - have been absorbed into everyday use. As such, it's truly refreshing to see that this seasonal offering, from writer Beth Flintoff and directors Paul Stacey and Chris Cuming, dares to give us a slightly different take on a classic.

Within the cosy settings of Reading Rep Theatre, this small-scale production chimes with the spirit of Christmas in the Cratchit house by making the most of everything it has to create plenty of good cheer.

Upon entering the auditorium, it's immediately obvious that we aren't in the canonical world of A Christmas Carol. The streets of impoverished London have been swapped for those of Victorian Reading, and Ebeneezer Scrooge (Jeremy Drakes)'s counting-house is eschewed in favour of the town's very own - and very real - Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory, with a large company sign hanging over the stage. It's a fun change which puts a slightly different spin on a well-worn tale, and which goes down particularly well with Berkshire locals, who laugh and groan in all the right places - but something is lost on those who haven't heard of places like Coley or Newtown. It keeps the production light-hearted, but the show occasionally risks straying into pantomime territory with several local or contemporary references and a reoccurring joke about Garibaldi biscuits.

Equally striking are Flintoff's changes to the plot, including a Miss Bobbie Cratchit (Charlotte Warner) who works as Scrooge's clerk, and a few tweaks to the grumpy old miser's backstory. It works unexpectedly well. Scrooge becomes a more sympathetic figure immediately, a working-class boy who "had to work twice as hard" as his more-educated colleagues to get to his position. Drakes plays a distinctly more likeable Scrooge than we might expect: he repents almost immediately after the ghost of his late colleague (George Palmer, not Dickens's Jacob Marley) appears, which creates a more emotional payoff to the familiar story and has the audience rooting for him from the start.

The cast, a five-strong ensemble plus one rotating child actor, are excellent, creating a vast array of iconic characters and settings. Warner is a witty and lovable Bobbie Cratchit, and Elijah Ferreira and Nathalie Codsi portray young Scrooge and his sweetheart Belle with genuine warmth. Rick Romero is outstanding, playing everything from an underpaid worker to a totally delightful Mr Fezziwig and a gruff prison officer. Anna Lewis's costume designs make for clever changes between characters, and her set is masterful in its economy: a series of bookkeepers' cupboards which variously become high-rise buildings, Reading Gaol and Scrooge's grave.

The whole ensemble works together to keep the production fast-paced and smooth, but the technical design brings real magic. Simeon Miller's lighting is playful and slick, aiding the ghostly transitions between Christmases past, present and future, and giving the three spirits a beautifully dreamlike quality. The sound, designed by Joe Dines, adds to these moments and his compositions are wonderfully atmospheric. It was mildly frustrating that the opening and closing numbers (the only vocalised songs in the production) were led by pre-recorded voices and not the very able cast, but they nonetheless bookended the show with charm.

If you're after a scrupulously accurate stage adaptation of a classic Dickensian tale, look elsewhere than Reading Rep's A Christmas Carol. If, however, you fancy a playful, uplifting and ultimately lovely take on a very familiar story, then there is plenty of joy to be had in this good-humoured and truly cheering production.

A Christmas Carol runs at Reading Rep Theatre until 31 December

Photo Credit: Reading Rep Theatre

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