On Christmas Eve, 1843, a young writer weaves an enchanting tale of mean spirits and human goodness for his enraptured family. In a set that envelops the audience you'll find yourselves in the midst of the world he creates. Follow your favourite characters as they journey through a wondrous world of ghastly ghosts, searing wickedness and inspiring generosity, to an explosion of seasonal cheer and celebration. The World premiere of a joyful new musical specially commissioned by BAC.| 1 Dec 00 to 20 Jan 01 | BAC (Battersea Arts Centre) Inner London, Greater London Performance Details => Venue archive |
The venue is a small black box acting space with a clear floor and some odd bits and pieces to suggest a Dickensian context. The first suprise is to find a cast of over 30 filling the space - and they really good fill it, moving with an assurance that prevented traffic jams and collisions and allowed them to create impressive displays and movement.
The hauntings were well presented and the use of puppetry added an extra dimension, especially to Marley's ghost - a very impressive sight, well handled.
Some tweaks to the story allowed it to be told as enacted narrative with Scrooge's nephew acting as the storyteller - this worked well though the resolution between the real and told stories doesn't bear too close an inspection - but by that time your being swept along by the confident singing and staging and the excellent individual performances of William Maxwell (Scrooge), Bill Ward (Nephew), Martin Fletcher (Bob Cratchit) and others. The children performed well, keeping up with the pace and presentation of their elders and there er some nice set pieces such as stripping Ebenezer's corpse.
If you go to see this keep an eye (and ear) out for the ensemble - whilst the action is going on they are always concentrating and providing credible off-line acting, even their rhubarb banter is appropriate and in keeping. Unusual discipline.
The venue is a small black box acting space with a clear floor and some odd bits and pieces to suggest a Dickensian context. The first suprise is to find a cast of over 30 filling the space - and they really good fill it, moving with an assurance that prevented traffic jams and collisions and allowed them to create impressive displays and movement.
The hauntings were well presented and the use of puppetry added an extra dimension, especially to Marley's ghost - a very impressive sight, well handled.
Some tweaks to the story allowed it to be told as enacted narrative with Scrooge's nephew acting as the storyteller - this worked well though the resolution between the real and told stories doesn't bear too close an inspection - but by that time your being swept along by the confident singing and staging and the excellent individual performances of William Maxwell (Scrooge), Bill Ward (Nephew), Martin Fletcher (Bob Cratchit) and others. The children performed well, keeping up with the pace and presentation of their elders and there er some nice set pieces such as stripping Ebenezer's corpse.
If you go to see this keep an eye (and ear) out for the ensemble - whilst the action is going on they are always concentrating and providing credible off-line acting, even their rhubarb banter is appropriate and in keeping. Unusual discipline.
