This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw Scrooge in Rouge at the invite of The Old Joint Stock.
For Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre, James Steventon and Ollie West talked about their roles within Scrooge in Rouge. Listen below:
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour
This production contains strong language (Cheers!) and audience participation. (Boooo!)
Review: Scrooge in Rouge at The Old Joint Stock
⭐⭐⭐⭐A proper Christmas treat for adults.
Directed by Emily Susanna Lloyd, book and lyrics by Ricky Graham with Jefferson Turner and Yvette Haris.
Told through the eyes of three actors from a travelling company (the rest of the cast has food poisoning), Scrooge in Rouge sees Iona Crampton as Vesta mostly playing Scrooge, with Ollie West as Charlie, and James Steventon playing Lottie, as almost all the other characters.
A Christmas Carol set within a play is a great idea for a story, particularly with such a chaotic theme. Seeing it happen in front of my eyes was a delight from start to finish.
There are certainly overtones of improv with precise mistakes. The switch from old London music hall and variety is great to see. The actors are warm and funny and their character’s personal relationships are complex as Charlie keeps trying to kiss Vesta at awkward moments. This is an intimate and funny production with some excellent songs and sequences.
Iona Crampton is great as an actor playing Scrooge, her character’s need for fame and the spotlight engulfs the other characters at times and it is particularly amusing to see. The script acknowledges the terrible jokes and even those in Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol. Ollie West is excellent as a serious actor giving into the total chaos around him. And James Steventon‘s brilliantly chaotic Lottie, seems to switch accents and costumes all the time. Like any true Drag Queen or Panto Dame should.
The three-door farce elements are all here and yesterday’s audience member who was roped into perform during a song seemed to lap up the attention. The stage is four large panels with a curtain and brilliant backgrounds on a rail!
A proper Christmas treat for adults, Scrooge in Rouge is at The Old Joint Stock until 30th December 2024. Book tickets here: oldjointstock.co.uk/whats-on/scrooge-in-rouge.
