REVIEW: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Barons Court Theatre until 24 December 2022

‘Will gently touch and move you’ ★★★ ½

This seems to be the year when everybody has a story to tell - and that story is arguably the greatest of them all - Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Well, if it’s good enough for Dolly Parton - her version is playing at The Southbank Centre - then it’s maybe not unexpected to see a daily (‘9 to 5’? - ho ho ho) timetable of numerous versions of the show.

A Christmas Carol is a truly great tale so, why mess with it? And, happily, as I staggered back up the stairs from the tiny but delightful Barons Court Theatre, I reflected that this version successfully conveyed Dickens’ fundamental question - can a person change? - and evoked the spirit(s) of Christmas.

Our storyteller is Adam Z Robinson, a physical and all-encompassing presence who, with help from some smartly produced audio, plays all the main characters with Scrooge at the centre. The book has been edited with respect, and the action never drifts despite the limitations of a small stage and a lack of Old Vic-style ‘pyro’.

Here, Scrooge is gnarly and suitably unpleasant from the outset and, as he goes on his literal and metaphorical journey, we gradually and convincingly see his un-ravelling and his ultimate shift to decency and light. I’ve always felt that Scrooge doesn’t need to be seen in two extremes - ‘really bad’ and ‘really good’ - and Robinson keeps emotions in check so that we have a controlled performance and incarnation.

Robinson’s narrative voice is rich but nuanced - I got a hint of a Welsh baritone in there? - and the use of audio works well with the longer periods where wider characterisation isn’t required. Indeed, the sprinkling of street sounds and pleasing arrangements of Christmas carols adds a clear sense of place and time. I would have liked to see the stage dressed with a little more ‘wow’ to really make me truly think that it’s ‘beginning to feel a lot like Christmas’ and the inclusion of an interval stop things dead. I would have just worked on through but, of course, I’m not the one doing the hard work on stage.

There is clear delineation between each character, and this is due to Robinson’s vocal gymnastics. I didn’t care for Bob Cratchit as a ‘cockney barrow boy’ but the home scenes with his family were delightfully realised and, as we reached the triumphant ending, I liked the underplaying of Tiny Tim (and his ‘catchphrase’) and there was a more than a slither of emotion in Robinson’s voice and eyes as Scrooge ‘made amends’.

There are bigger, brassier, louder, brasher A Christmas Carol’s on in London and beyond this year but, if you like your festive fare to gently touch and move you, go to the Barons Court Theatre.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL Adapted By Adam Z Robinson & Directed By Dick Bonham

Barons Court Theatre

7 – 24 December 2022

Box Office https://app.lineupnow.com/event/a-christmas-carol-3

Produced by The Book of Darkness and Light

Reviewer: Paul Maidment

Paul had a long career at the BBC where he ran a number of commercial / digital businesses and he now consults to the creative content sector. His love of theatre came from his wife whom he met at university and he has been attending shows ever since. In 2021/22 Paul was a member of The Olivier Awards public panel which re-enforced his belief in theatre as the most exciting and engrossing cultural medium.