Let Them Call It Mischief return to the Pleasance with an all new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge is miserable, angry and just plain mean - even at Christmas time. When he gets visited by the ghost of his old friend Jacob Marley on Christmas Eve, Scrooge knows this won’t be any normal festive period.
A Bit of Christmas Spirit
There’s no doubt it’s Christmas at the Pleasance. The temperature’s dropped, the evenings are drawing in and Let Them Call It Mischief are back with a brand new take on that old festive favourite, A Christmas Carol.
We asked director Danny Wainwright what made him choose to adapt this classic text.
“For me, Christmas has always been about A Christmas Carol in all its different guises. It’s always been a part of my Christmases; from the book, to the excellent Bill Murray film Scrooged to The Muppet Christmas Carol. I think it’s still as relevant today as it was in 1843.”
But surely he must have faced challenges in adapting the text for the stage and updating it to make the show more accessible for a modern audience. “There are always challenges in adapting anything, how close to stay to the original material, whether to update the setting or the language, or just to use the source material’s themes as a starting point and let your imagination take you somewhere completely different.”
“The challenge really has been working out what is really important to the story and focussing on that” Danny continues. “The great thing about theatre is that you can show pages of scene-setting in a moment, which really helps to bring the story to life.”
The stakes are high at Christmas time though, with so many shows - not to mention the dreaded pantomimes - on offer, it’s undeniably a busy time for theatres across the country. So what should the theatregoers of north London expect from the Pleasance this year?
“Audiences can expect a fun, fast-paced retelling of A Christmas Carol, with plenty of silliness thrown in for good measure! No one need worry about any preconceptions of Dickens being overly serious or arduous or difficult to understand. We’ve got 7 great actors playing over 40 characters in a show with something for everyone, if you’re 8 or 108.”
A Christmas Carol, 9th December - 4th January
Will his extraordinary adventure teach him the spirit of Christmas and show him what he’s been missing? Join Scrooge as he’s taken on a magical by a host of wonderful characters that will change his life forever.
Photofun
The perfect Christmas feast.
