1 December – 4 January
Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella is synonymous with Christmas itself; never out of print since its first publication, this celebrated tale is one of the most adapted and retold stories of all time. The challenge facing any new production, therefore, must surely be how to take such a beautiful, well-known and enduring tale and present it in a fresh and imaginative way? Director Jessica Daniels and returning writer Alan Pollock have embraced this challenge in this year’s festive offering at the Barn: the result is gloriously charming and heartwarming.
This is A Christmas Carol with plenty of Christmas carols. Daniels has assembled a fantastic cast of six hugely talented actor-musicians who thread their wonderful voices and instruments throughout this tale from the very first scene, one which opens onto a beautifully authentic stage that set designer Anna Kelsey intends as “unmistakably Dickensian”. Jack Lord turns in a very believable rendering of Ebeneezer Scrooge’s redemptive transformation in a tweaked version which is three-quarters Dickens’ original text and a quarter improvisation as Pollock aims to explore Scrooge’s origin story in new ways. Gone are some scenes completely, others significantly redacted, freeing up creative time and space to present conversations and scenes which Dickens’ original text never offers. It is a clever and imaginative reworking which leaves the lasting impression of every scene having been carefully and thoughtfully reconsidered and recrafted.
Take Fezziwig, for example, the jovial gentleman and employer whose profession in the novella is never stated, but who is recast here as part apothecary, part mad professor, part inventor….and why not? Then take Jacob Marley’s ghost, whose ominous, disembodied voice is heard whilst “the chain he forged in life” writhes around Scrooge instead, courtesy of the remaining cast members. Indeed, all four of Dickens’ spirits are cleverly and artfully presented by cast members who rotate roles according to musical need, seamlessly switching and interweaving between guises and the twenty different characters the story requires. The dexterity and versatility of the actor-musician has become one of the distinctive hallmarks of the Barn’s festive productions.
Kelsey’s staging is full of surprises, from hidden cupboards and trapdoors to a couple of hydraulic floors which function not just as part of the scene transitions, but which are integral elements of the story’s narrative. Two portable staircases are used multiple times and with impressive creativity – the treadmill, to name but one use, is a masterstroke. Marley’s face, terrifyingly, appears in a cupboard door instead of the conventional door knocker. Candlelight is used extensively (both real and artificial) to convey intimacy and cosiness one minute, an eerie and unsettling atmosphere the next. Smoke brings the smog of Victorian London evocatively to life. Technically, this is an impressive production. And yet these are not the expensive, high-budget special effects of other shows, more a case of simple, clever and highly effective ingenuity.
It was the Poor Law and a report into poverty and child labour which prompted Dickens’ plea for social and moral change in a tale which has become a part of our shared cultural imagination, especially around this festive time of year. Before the curtain falls, we are reminded of how prescient and necessary A Christmas Carol is for a 2025 audience. It is, in Daniels’ words, “as important now as it ever was”. This is a gloriously clever production which gives us that heartwarming festive glow, whilst simultaneously reminding us why the tale was necessary in the first place.
★★★★★ Tony Clarke, 4 December 2025
Photos: Sonny Layton
