This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw A Christmas Carol at the invite of Birmingham Rep.
Look out for an interview with Matthew Cottle on Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre on Tuesday 26th November at 3pm (UK time) and on this review soon after.
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour and bsky.app/profile/brumhour.com
Review: A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story at Birmingham Rep
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Dark and haunting!
Directed by Adam Penford, adapted by Mark Gatiss from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
Matthew Cottle takes the lead role of Scrooge, in this spooky version of A Christmas Carol, which has swept its way into Birmingham Rep until 5th January 2025.
Our Narrator (Geoffrey Beevers), introduces us to this world of filing cabinets and debt collection notes, and from the offset the soundscape is unsettling and creepy.
There are moments where a wave of lights passes over the audience and it takes a moment to see what is actually happening on the stage. The past, present and future themes will always lead to a question of where the interval should land, but this show handled this with ease, The two hours and ten minutes of this performance was punctuated by a welcome twenty-minute breather.
Costume and dialogue-wise, it all seems reasonably normal for this work, though every so often, something slightly different happens and the intensity compared to other productions is apparent throughout.
Matthew Cottle, who I think of as a much more comedic actor, is fantastic here only, offering lighter moments sparingly. Without his previous trademark facial hair, you might not recognise Rufus Hound in this but he is excellent throughout in all of his guises. (Jacob Marley is currently played by James Backway.)
I enjoyed the jumpy moments, and pondered if this was a four or five-star show. But I can’t really fault it, though as this is a version, I’m sure some aficionados would have plenty to say. The ensemble cast is excellent as they populate each of the ghostly visions of Scrooge and the set is lovely!
Dark and haunting, A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story is at Birmingham Rep until 5th January. Book tickets here: birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/a-christmas-carol-a-ghost-story.
