Theatre Review: A Christmas Carol at Birmingham Repertory Theatre ***
CHARLES Dickens’ tale of seasonal redemption is hardly a cheery Christmas story. The menacing undercurrent of the story in some ways makes it a challenging choice for a family Christmas show and the dilemma is clear in this production.
Adapted by Bryony Lavery and directed by Nikolai Foster, the production is not quite sure whether it is a scarefest or a comedy. So we have Marley’s ghost wailing away in his chains and screaming menacingly before he suddenly breaks into song.
Peter Polycarpou has Scrooge down to a fine art. He is convincingly mean and nasty at the beginning but then reforms to become a believable nice guy.
Until Jan 9.
