Book: David Abbinanti
Music and Lyrics: Patrick Greene
Director: Roisin McCay-Hines
It seems that every way one turns at Christmas, there’s someone exhorting you to see their take on the 
Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, each promising its own USP – maybe the cast is made up of puppets or perhaps everything ‘goes wrong’.
In The Old Joint Stock’s offering, we meet Harold and his daughter, Sylvie. Christmas this year is a struggle for Harold. He’s still coming to terms with being widowed and Christmas was a special time for Harold and his wife: enthusiastic actors, they performed in A Christmas Carol each year. Like many men, Harold isn’t very good at expressing his real feelings and emotions and Sylvie is understandably worried for him as he becomes more reclusive. Her brainwave? They will perform A Christmas Carol together, with Harold playing Scrooge and Sylvie filling for everyone else. And while Harold is by no means sure it’s a good idea, he quickly warms up.
This show is a big ask for two actors. Not only is there Scrooge’s journey to enlightenment, we also need to see Harold’s. And Sylvie needs to make all her characters instantly believable and distinct, while also chivvying Harold at times. Our cast of two: Andrew Cullum and Sam Carlyle as Harold and Sylvie respectively do a fine job.
Cullum shows us well Harold’s descent into a man on the edge and barely coping, being entirely believable as he deflects Sylvie’s attempts to gauge his mental and physical state. Scrooge-like, he has lost his sense of the Christmas Spirit. In a small space like the Old Joint Stock’s theatre, there is no hiding place for the actor with every emotion (or lack thereof) writ large. Cullum’s expressive face shows us Harold’s inner turmoil, the conflict between grief at his wife’s passing, pride in his daughter’s performances and the pleasure he feels in performing again. Patrick Greene’s book is well-judged on this point, with Harold occasionally breaking character as Scrooge enabling us to glimpse his, Harold’s, journey. And Cullum delivers so that the journeys of both characters can touch us emotionally. And by the end, both Harold and Scrooge have achieved a measure of redemption.
Carlyle’s Sylvie, as herself, is most akin to Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, in her sunny disposition and smiley character. That’s not to say that we don’t see her grief, too; rather she has put it to one side to support Harold. Carlyle brings a childlike joy to Sylvie as their Christmas Carol progresses. The flow of the whole is maintained by simple changes of costume – a hat or scarf for example, that telegraph to us which character she is playing – along with changes in her voice and demeanour (we are utterly convinced that her Ghost of Christmas Present is, indeed, huge). It’s a tour de force.
While the book might deliver well, the songs from David Abbinanti feel more like an afterthought; they are somewhat forgettable and don’t add to the exposition or emotional belt, although they do allow Carlyle to showcase a rather sweet voice, while Cullum’s style, at least at the outset, tips its hat rather more to the Rex Harrison school. And while director Roisin McCay-Hines provides a sure hand to proceedings, manipulating our emotions in tune with the journeys of Scrooge, Harold and Sylvie, one can’t help feeling that the final reveal about their performance could have been made a touch stronger.
Nevertheless, Our Christmas Carol is a worthwhile addition to the ranks of adaptations of Dickens’ masterpiece and well worth seeking out. One leaves the theatre with a warm feeling and a renewed respect for these actors’ talents.
Runs until 24 December 2023
