Name: A Christmas Carol | Old Vic
Start: 2023-11-11
End: 2024-01-06
Location: Old Vic

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Algolia Theatre: Christmas

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A Christmas Carol | Old Vic - LON [24716] 

Genre: Play

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A Christmas Carol | Old Vic

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A Christmas Carol | Old Vic - Hero

A Christmas Carol | Old Vic - LON [24716]  Product Media

There’s no more welcome theatrical perennial these days than Jack Thorne’s take on [*A Christmas Carol*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24716-a-christmas-carol-or-old-vic-tickets) at the [Old Vic](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/old-vic-theatre), which I have now seen six times and will happily revisit for as long as that venue’s artistic director, Matthew Warchus, cares to put it on. 

Warchus’s own production of Charles Dickens’s malleable 1843 novella has boasted a different Ebenezer Scrooge each time, all the while bringing to bear a matchless aural component that won’t ever grow stale.

I envy playgoers their first exposure to composer-arranger Christopher Nightingale’s soundscape, which contains enough original composition to have won Nightingale a Tony for his incidental music: a rare victory in this category for a non-musical. But it’s the absorption into the rending whole of numerous seasonal standards that sets this production apart, whether that be the beloved French carol “Il est  né, le divin enfant”, or the most shimmering version imaginable of “In the Bleak Midwinter”. 

The use of bells lends a joyous tang to proceedings, and musical director Katharine Woolley and her band — seen perched to one side of this large-scale jewel box of a venue — deserve the cheers with which they are met at the end.

[Owen Teale](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/owen-teale), a Tony-winner a quarter-century ago for *A Doll’s House* who has gone on to TV renown, is the latest Scrooge, following where Rhys Ifans first led; Campbell Scott took the part on Broadway, and Andrew Lincoln persuasively stepped up to the plate for an online version during the pandemic. 

Teale makes a gruff, bluff Scrooge, making clear at the outset that this miserly stay-at-home has no time for revellers and even less patience for appeals to charity. Is Christmas “cause for trespass” he asks the hapless Bob Cratchit (Roger Dipper), who is later fired in any case for poor time-keeping. 

Scrooge visibly chafes at the very notion of beneficence and is at a scowlingly low ebb when a portent arrives like something out of Shakespeare that he will face up to three separate spirits before this parable of psychic balm has played itself out.

The production makes plain the violence doled out to the young Scrooge by his debt-ridden scold of a father (Sebastian Torkia) and the extent to which the parade of Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future represents turning points in a therapeutic reckoning with psychic damage. (Jenny Fitzpatrick’s Christmas Present, a mysterious figure in sunglasses, gets a great moment late on in this spectre’s desire to be known as Brenda.)

A bewhiskered Teale posits Scrooge’s steadfast refusal to learn even as the story pivots on his capacity for change. That very quality “is in all of us,” notes his onetime defender Belle (a charming Lydia White), for whom Scrooge has long harboured romantic feelings. 

Before you know it, Scrooge professes real love for his nephew Fred (Dominic Sibanda) and is getting out of the way of a turkey that comes hurtling along the same cruciform walkway – designed by Tony-winner Rob Howell – where we have earlier seen Jacob Marley trailed by more chains than one would have thought possible.

At its limitlessly moving core, this story is one of a necessary emotional awakening that has resonances for us all, not least in an era newly gripped by near-Dickensian levels of want and need as Teale’s finely calibrated appeal to the audience following the curtain call makes clear. 

The actor finds more laughs in the role than I remember: “you can’t have too many potatoes,” he notes in a second act that replaces bleakness with bounty and showers delighted playgoers with fast-melting snow. Teale’s avuncularity is at first a tad offputting, as if he were holding the depths of the part at arm’s length in a way that last year’s leading man, the matchless Stephen Mangan, never did.

But as the narrative shifts towards inclusion, Teale digs further down and was seen daubing an eye during his climactic exchange with Tiny Tim (played at the performance caught by Casey-Indigo Blackwood-Lashley). A smile from Scrooge looks to be as hard-won as laughter was once deemed to be from Greta Garbo, but this production succeeds in wresting from playgoers far more than just a grin. 

As the auditorium erupts in the final sequence into song, dance, snow, and merriment, one’s joy is tempered only by the prospect of its absence. That duality sends playgoers tearfully into the night, their empathy reinforced just as Scrooge himself is spiritually restored.

[*A Christmas Carol is at the Old Vic to 7 January.*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24716-a-christmas-carol-or-old-vic-tickets)

*Photo credit: Owen Teale as Scrooge (Photo by Manuel Harlan)*

'A Christmas Carol' review — a festive story that serves as an emotional awakening

A Christmas Carol - 1200 - LT

A Christmas Carol fills the auditorium to the brim with mince pies, music and merriment. A unique staging immerses the audience in London’s longest running adaptation of this beloved festive favourite.

The Old Vic, originally named the Royal Coburg Theatre, was designed in 1818 by Rudolph Cabanel. Its name was later changed to the Royal Victoria Theatre, then the Royal Victoria Hall, before it took on its nickname of 'The Old Vic' as its official name in 1925. 

The Old Vic has housed acclaimed performances with such celebrated actors as John Gielgud’s *Hamlet*, Laurence Olivier’s *Macbeth* and *Othello* in 1937, and Judi Dench’s Juliet in *Romeo and Juliet*, which was privately performed for The Queen in 1957.

In 1963, the Old Vic became the home base of the [National Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/national-theatre) of Great Britain during its formation under Laurence Olivier. The theatre continued to host the National Theatre until the move to South Bank in 1976. 

There are two entrances to the Old Vic: one on The Cut and the other on Waterloo Road, which is an accessible entrance. In 2019, 'Penny', an accessible basement cafe and bar was opened, offering drinks, sandwiches and snacks. 

## Old Vic Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels - Stalls, Dress Circle, and the Lilian Baylis Circle.

Despite the Dress Circle overhang, this doesn’t affect the view due to pillars. There is also a staggered rake that will be noticeable from row J to allow better viewing.

The Lilian Baylis Circle is high above the ground and overhangs the Dress Circle at row C meaning row E will miss the top of the stage. There are also standing seats available at the sides of this circle.

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Esteemed writer Jack Thorne's joyous, atmospheric adaptation of the timeless Charles Dickens classic returns to The Old Vic following a successful run last Christmas. *A Christmas Carol* returns to The Old Vic in 2023. Book *A Christmas Carol* tickets on London Theatre.

Based on Charles Dickens's beloved work, the play follows Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve. He is visited by three ghosts, showing him either scenes from his past, a view of the present, or a peek into the future. Can Scrooge reevaluate his priorities and take stock on his life in time for Christmas morning? 

Jack Thorne's adaptation of *A Christmas Carol* is now a London institution. *A Christmas Carol* premiered at the Old Vic in 2017, starring Rhys Ifans as Ebenezer Scrooge. It immediately became a must-see piece of festive theatre, and *A Christmas Carol*'s returned to the Old Vic every year since. Actors to play Ebenezer Scrooge include Owen Teale, Stephen Mangan, Andrew Lincoln, and Paterson Joseph. This year, Doctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston leads the cast. 


A Christmas Carol - LON - London Theatre [24716]

Jack Throne's adaptation of the Charles Dickens timeless story returns to the Old Vic this Christmas. See Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation as he encounters the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, discovering the true meaning of Christmas along the way.

Jack Thorne’s treatment of this seasonal staple is moody, thoughtful, and heartfelt. Thorne is a master of bringing much-loved stories to life onstage, also working on *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*. Thorne’s script, coupled with Matthew Warchus’s atmospheric direction, delivers the perfect blend of Dickensian mirth and Gothic darkness. Though the story is internationally known, this production breathes wintery life into the beloved masterpiece.

## What To Watch For
- Jack Thorne also writes for television. His credits include The Fades, and This Is England.
- *A Christmas Carol* won five Tony Awards in 2019. *A Christmas Carol* won all the categories it was nominated in.
- Hymns in *A Christmas Carol* include “O Holy Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Ding Dony Merrily on High,” and “I Saw Three Ships.”

A Christmas Carol - LON - TodayTix LON [24716]

Bah humbug! The Christmas classic by Charles Dickens returns to the Old Vic this winter, directed by Matthew Warchus. Follow the transformation of the miserable Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by the ghosts of of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, and learns the true meaning of Christmas.

A Christmas Carol | Old Vic Tickets

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