5 – 30 December
There are very few plays that can be considered ‘actor proof’, whilst there are many that need consummate acting to pull them off. In the first camp we find Dickens’, A Christmas Carol. Having now seen almost as many productions as I have had Christmas puddings, I can vouch for the fact that when the chastened and reformed Scrooge announces to Bob Cratchit that he is going to raise his wages, a good dollop of emotion accompanies a form of benign glow, which generally suffuses the audience. Just as well when you are mixing the talents of professional actors with a troupe of amateurs – schoolchildren at that. What such a production may lack in finesse it makes up for in good-natured community spirit.
The present offering by Pleasure Dome Theatre Company at the Taunton Brewhouse introduces us to a musical Scrooge who (bold as you like) sings about selfishness and tells the audience to their faces what a waste of time Christmas and all the attendant nonsense about charity is. Then, as if to rub it in, he is thoroughly beastly to dear little Tiny Tim. Ian Harris as Scrooge has a good stab at making the character the owner of a heart of stone, but there is something about this actor, which suggests that Ebenezer is not quite as odious as he makes out. Of course, as we find out during the play, he is the victim of his own circumstances and ill-considered choices.
Introducing Marley as a disembodied hat and coat was a good idea in concept whilst difficult to pull off in practice as the two actors required to operate the costume seemed to clutter the stage and undercut the air of spookiness that was attempting to be created. Similarly I found myself baffled by the Ghost of Christmas Present who appeared as two cushions with padded extrusions followed by a material covered globe affair with legs and headlamps. It brought to mind the Padstow Obby Oss, which was perhaps its inspiration. ‘Future’ fared a little better in the traditional black cloak and cowl.
The actors in this production are all multi-talented, but the decision to have them with their instruments whilst in their various characters I found distracting from the story. Again, what might have seemed a good idea at the time to have two contemporary young girls on a train, engaging as they were, as a way of bringing the play up to date was a distraction and an irrelevance. The story is a perennial one precisely because it remains relevant.
The group scenes with genuine crowds were a jolly affair such that, at the Fezziwigs’ party for example, the audience could justifiably feel left out. The show brims with novel ideas, which sadly don’t always hit the mark, but nothing can dim the essential spirit of the play, which shines through and could only fail to move the grumpiest of spirits.
★★★☆☆ Graham Wyles, 7 December 2023
