Press ESC or click the X to close this window

A Christmas Carol (Susan Elkin reviews)

A Christmas Carol continues at the Bridge House Theatre, London.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

This show is a slow burner. Four actors retell and act out the famous story of A Christmas Carol but starting with a rather badly sung (three full verses), flabby account of Good King Wenceslas does nothing to launch the story or advance the narrative. If the idea is to kick off with a literal Christmas carol then it falls flat.

Not until we get to Mr Fezziwig’s party does the show begin to take off with an appealing all-singing, all-dancing music hall-style number.

Part of the problem is that director Guy Retallack’s adaptation is, if anything, too true to Dickens’ story. There are some very wordy, action-light scenes in which dramatic pace flags …

Read the rest of this review at Musical Theatre Review: https://musicaltheatrereview.com/a-christmas-carol-bridge-house-theatre/

Author information
Susan Elkin Susan Elkin is an education journalist, author and former secondary teacher of English. She was Education and Training Editor at The Stage from 2005 - 2016
More posts by Susan Elkin