A Christmas Carol At Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Mel Randle
Last night, myself and my daughter (8) went along to Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury to watch The Dickens Theatre Company perform A Christmas Carol. As a Christmas Tradition, I like to see at least one performance of this Charles Dickens literary classic every year, and with so much hype around non-traditional things these days, I think it is nice for my daughter to be involved too.
This particular production takes place in the Norman Bragg studio which is a more intimate space at the back of the Waterside Theatre and lends itself much better to this performance given that it is just a cast of two! Ryan Philpot and Samuel Oakes share the thirty odd parts between them and I have to say, do a mighty fine job of it!! My daughter wanted me to put the following in my review – ‘It was very good with just two people in it’
It is initially set in present day – a play within a play where we discover that the other cast members are stuck on a broken down train, and it is up to the only two available to put on the performance. The staging is very simple, consisting of several crates, a step ladder and a myriad of props. The crates are moved around and stacked to create a table for the Cratchit’s, or Bob Cratchit’s desk etc. Simple but effective. Mime was used for things such as opening doors, but the actors were great and totally sold this to the audience. What drew me in most was very clever lighting creating shadows on a blank white backdrop. It just gave that Victorian Christmas feel and the ghostly atmosphere that this play demands.
As mentioned previously, the two actors played all roles in the story and changed characters by adding an item of clothing or a prop. A house coat for Scrooge, a top hat for Fred and some chains for the Ghost of Marley to name a few. And different accents gave good definition but also a touch of humour. I didn’t find any of this distracting. The changes weren’t subtle but were seamless and I really bought into the whole thing. Ryan Philpot also jumped out of character to take the role of narrator throughout so it was easy to follow the story if you are not familiar with it.
This production stuck to the original story with no updates or modern twists. I’m all for adaptions, but for me, this story at this time of year is as effective as ever just as it was back in the 19th century. There was a lovely bit of audience participation at the end when we all sang a rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, so we left the theatre, out into the freezing cold night, with our Christmas Spirit well and truly topped up!
Rating: 5/5
A Christmas Carol is playing at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre until Friday 23rd Nov 2024 and then Sunday 15th – Wednesday 18th Dec 2024
Tickets available from £18.70 with no transaction fees
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/a-christmas-carol/norman-bragg-studio-aylesbury/