Energetic and vibrant production breathes new life into festive classic

A Christmas Carol
Reading Rep Theatre
Wednesday, December 3

ONCE upon a time Reading was known for three things — beer, bulbs and biscuits and even the football club was nicknamed the Biscuitmen. The last vestiges of that were gone by the end of the 20th century but Reading Rep has given us a glimpse of it with its joyously entertaining A Christmas Carol.

This production, an adaptation by Beth Flintoff from the original Dickens, is energetic to a fault and speeds through. Ms Flintoff has swapped East London for Victorian Reading and Scrooge is a senior executive with the Huntley and Palmers biscuit company. Cratchit is now a young woman living in what the script describes as the slums of Coley.

The story unfolds much as we might expect but it’s only a mannequin for Ms Flintoff to drape with a completely new set of clothes with her vibrant script. In Dickens’s original we never really knew what Scrooge dealt in but there is no doubt here: it’s biscuits, biscuits, biscuits.

A play is always more than a script, though and the set design from Nicky Bunch and direction from Chris Cuming send shockwaves through the mannequin to bring it to full-blooded life. The stage is presented with a proscenium arch and is filled with cut-outs of a 19th century Reading skyline.

We start with a brief carol-singing session as the cast enters, then with a bang, we are back in old Reading as Scrooge enters full mean mode.

There are six in the cast including on this night Ned Woollatt as Tiny Tim. George Eggay as Scrooge is fearsome, imposing and yet, when required, tender.

Mark Desebrock displays a huge range as Hopkins, Fezziwig, the Ghost of Christmas Present and Palmer senior in both chained spirit form and reality.

Orla O’Sullivan is appealing as Belle. Sam Amestoy is ever present as a variety of different characters but especially notable as Young Scrooge.

And the star of the show, for this reviewer, is Charlotte Warner, who plays Bobbie Cratchit, and the Ghost of Christmas Past among others. She is a gifted comic actress with exceptional timing and presence.

Reading Rep is a treasure for which we’ve been waiting a long time and A Christmas Carol is perfect for the season.

It runs until Saturday, January 3.

Mike Rowbottom