Chain reaction: Steve Tearle’s Jacob Marley spooks Kit Stroud’s Ebenezer Scrooge in NE Theatre York’s A Christmas Carol
NE Theatre York – or NE Musicals York as they were back then – staged the York premiere of this all-singing version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at the JoRo in November 2018.
More Christmas advert season than Advent season on that occasion, but the show’s return heralds Advent’s arrival on Sunday, and the festive mood is already alive and noisy, like the crisp and sweet packet scrunching that accompanied Tuesday’s opening night.
Scrooge moan over, some things have changed since 2018, some have not. More on the changes later, but first: the cast numbers 60 once more; Steve Tearle is directing and playing the ghost of Jacob Marley in white suit and face paint again, and the Sold Out signs will be greeting theatregoers again and again on the street scene on the JoRo forecourt. No tickets left, not one.
A roll of thunder announces the arrival of Tearle’s Marley on a London set familiar to audiences who saw his production of Oliver!. Temporarily, north easterner Steve turns Brummie to make the obligatory mobile phone pronouncement but with the impish humour that will mark a frenetic, fantastical, phantasmagorical production into which he will throw everything, magical books, bouncing balls and kitchen sink included (metaphorically speaking).
Perri Ann Barley’s Ghost of Christmas Past
Look out too for the misbehaving chairs and bed in Scrooge’s house, leaping into the air as if propelled by the handiwork of ghosts.
Written by Beauty And The Beast and The Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens, the musical began life as a film before being re-created for the Broadway stage, opening at Madison Square Garden.
Its driving force is the modern musical score under Scott Phillips’s enthusiastic direction, but the dialogue fizzes along too – everything is home and hosed by 9.30pm – with Tearle’s Marley as host, ghost and timekeeper.
Changes afoot? The familiar tale of miserable, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemptive journey through Christmas Eve night still takes the form of encounters with Ghosts of the Past, Present and Yet To Be but Tearle has fortified the circus setting first evoked in 2018, while Melissa Boyd’s choreography nods to both 1856 and modern moves for ensemble numbers.
Once more the ghosts are first seen in their real-world guises as a lamplighter (Perri Ann Barley), Ring Master (Chris Hagyard, taking the circus theme further than James O’Neil’s charity show barker of 2018), and an Old Hag (John Mulholland). Note their Christmas colours of snow white, ivy green and holly berry red.
Chris Hagyard’s Ghost of Christmas Present
Tearle loves theatricality, spectacle in particular, and here he quite surpasses himself by having Marley wreathed in 100 metres of white fabric, stretched like waves across the stage as he urges Kit Stroud’s grouchy Scrooge to learn the error of his ways before it is too late. Marley’s trademark chains are more like a rapper’s bling adornments by comparison.
Graduating from his 2018 role as Young Ebenezer, Stroud’s Scrooge is mean of voice and demeanour at the outset, his lead performance being alive to both the humour and inhumanity the part demands.
Shocked by what he learns of himself, his Scrooge is pained by the recollections of his younger self, when guided by Perri Ann Barley’s Ghost Of Christmas Past with her coat of lights leading the way.
Ockrent and Ahrens’s book weaves one departure from Dickens’s novella into the plot: the story of Scrooge’s father, John William Scrooge, being sentenced to a debtors’ prison while his horrified wife’s family look on as they sing God Bless Us, Everyone.
Cowering into a ball, Stroud’s Scrooge screams “Mother” (as played by Rebecca Jackson), the stuff of a psychological thriller to counter the pantomimic comedy mayhem that subsequently permeates Mr Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball.
John Mulholland’s Ghost of Christmas Yet To Be
Hagyard, out of luck in October when Bev Jones Company’s Guys And Dolls had to be called off, puts that frustration behind him in a terrific performance, pulling strings as Ring Master cum Ghost of Christmas Present.
Greg Roberts’s clown-wigged Mr Fezziwig and Ali Butler-Hind’s Mrs Fezziwig enjoy themselves too in that first-half climax, while Kristian Barley’s Bob Cratchit and Alice Atang’s Tiny Tim maximise their moments too.
Mulholland’s Ghost of Christmas Yet To Be transforms from Old Hag to flame-maned heavy metal frontman, the shock of the new steering Stroud’s alarmed Scrooge towards the dawn of realisation and change.
Visually arresting, largely playful rather than psychological, A Christmas Carol is a typically vibrant, helter-skelter Tearle production, where the singing and musicianship is of varied quality, the dancing and acting being more assured by comparison.
NE Theatre York in A Christmas Carol, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday; 7.30pm nightly and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. SOLD OUT. Box office for returns only: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Kit Stroud’s Ebenezer Scrooge in NE Theatre York’s A Christmas Carol
NE Theatre York revisit Alan Menken’s musical take on Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from tomorrow to Saturday.
“We first performed this version of the show in 2018, when it was such a fantastic experience and so successful that it’s been our most requested show to perform again,” says director Steve Tearle. “We were even asked if we could tour with the show.”
In Dickens’s harrowing yet redemptive tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean man with a dislike for mankind, he will be clanking his chains for a second time as Scrooge’s late business partner Jacob Marley. “I’ve only played Marley in A Christmas Carol as he’s such a brilliant character that it’s a joy to play,” he reasons.
Director Steve Tearle and lead actor Kit Stroud in rehearsal for A Christmas Carol
“Five years ago, we staged it very differently to our new production. While still referencing the traditional dance moves of 1856, we’ve added a lot more contemporary moves into the show.
“Marley’s appearance will be very different, using 100 metres of fabric, plus we’re adding a circus. On top of that, the audience experience will start outside: as they walk up to the theatre, they will be treated to a typical London street in 1856.
“Once inside the auditorium, they’ll see we’re using a very similar set to our award-winning Oliver! as both Dickens stories are set in exactly the same place and time.”
John Mulholland’s Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Be in NE Theatre York’s A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol features music by Alan Menken, best known for such Disney musicals as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty And The Beast and Newsies, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent and Ahrens.
From 1994 to 2003, the show was staged annually at New York City’s Theatre at Madison Square, where Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham, Jim Dale, The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Frank Langella were among those to play Scrooge.
The London run in 2020 featured Brian Conley as Scrooge and now Kit Stroud takes the role for NE Theatre York as the miser is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Tearle’s Marley, who died seven years previously.
Ghosts galore: clockwise, Chris Hagyard’s Ghost of Christmas Past, John Mulholland’s Ghost of Christmas-Yet-To-Be, Perri Ann Barley’s Ghost of Christmas Present and Steve Tearle’s Jacob Marley
“Scrooge is a very challenging role as he only leaves the stage for a couple of moments in Act One; he is on stage for the rest of the time, and we’re delighted to have Kit playing him,” says Steve.
Marley forewarns Scrooge to expect a visit from three ghosts – the Ghost of Christmas Past (Perri Ann Barley), the Ghost of Christmas Present (Chris Hagyard) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Be (John Mulholland) – who urge him to mend his ways if he is to avoid the horrible consequences of treating people badly.
“With more than 60 people in the cast, this show will be a true Christmas spectacular featuring hilarious comedy characters such as Mr and Mrs Fezziwig (Ali Butler Hind and Greg Roberts) in a festive musical story that will definitely kickstart your Christmas,” says Steve.
Greg Roberts and Ali Butler Hind as Mr and Mrs Fezziwig
“It’s going to be magical, with books that light up, ghosts that appear out of nowhere and time travel, which is always exciting, and the ending, when Scrooge becomes good, is such a heartwarming moment.”
Any newcomers to look out for in the company? “Rebecca Jackson, who plays Scrooge’s Mother as we are transported to the past,” highlights Steve. “She has a beautiful stand-out song.”
Naming his favourite character, he picks Tiny Tim, to be played by Alice Atang. “She brings such innocence to the role, and when she sings her solo song, it’s so touching.”
NE Theatre York in A Christmas Carol, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, November 28 to December 2, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Tickets update: last few tickets still available for Friday and Saturday night; the rest, sold out. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk
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NE Theatre York ensemble members in rehearsal for A Christmas Carol
James Swanton: Ghost Stories for Christmas returns to York Medical Society
GOTHIC York York actor James Swanton is reviving his Dickensian Ghost Stories for Christmas trilogy at York Medical Society, Stonegate, from tomorrow.
Soon to appear in the BBC Christmas ghost story Lot No. 249 too, he will be presenting hour-long solo renditions of A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, before transferring to the Charles Dickens Museum, located at the author’s only London home to survive, 48 Doughty Street.
“I’m starting and finishing my run in York a little earlier than usual,” says James. “Mainly because there’s been such demand for the shows in London, 21 shows there from December 13 to 23, so the York run of ten feels fairly relaxed by comparison.
“York’s winding alleyways and tumbledown buildings are so beautifully suited to Dickens that it would have been inconceivable to strike it from my schedule. There really couldn’t be a more fitting venue than York Medical Society.
“Accordingly, I’ll be giving six performances of A Christmas Carol – you can never have too much of it, particularly with this year being its 180th anniversary – and two showings apiece of The Chimes and The Haunted Man, both lesser known but fascinating follow-ups.”
All three stories are richly rewarding, says James: “They brim with Dickens’s eye for capturing the weird, the strange and the odd, from human eccentricities to full-blown phantoms. Dickens’s anger at social injustice also aligns sharply with our own – and of course, there’s a lot to be angry about at the moment.
James Swanton in The Haunted Man. Picture: Alex Hyndman
“But beyond anything, these stories are masterful exercises in theatrical storytelling, with a real sense of joy emerging from the Victorian gloom.”
When did James first encounter A Christmas Carol? “I have a feeling that my first exposure was watching the rather exquisite Richard Williams animation from 1971, though I have no way of proving this. A particularly frightening Marley in that one,” he says. “The Muppet masterpiece won’t have been far behind. Two particularly musical Marleys in that one.”
Picking a favourite screen version of A Christmas Carol, James plumps for: “Alastair Sim’s Scrooge from 1951. The screenplay’s unusually sophisticated – and has the hubris to invent reams of credible Dickens! – but Sim himself is the reason it’s a cut above, because he was primarily a comic actor (and a comic actor of genius).
“It’s tempting to get an ageing Shakespearean titan to play Scrooge, but I think this misses the point of Scrooge, who’s hilarious even at his most wicked. He’s not King Lear – except to character actors!
“In more recent years, the one-man films starring Simon Callow and Jefferson Mays have thoroughly gripped me.”
Assessing why Dickens’s story still so popular after 180 Christmases, James says: “It’s that fool-proof structure that’s protected the material across constant (indeed, ongoing) reinterpretations. Provided you stick with the basic five acts – Past, Present and Yet To Come, as bordered by Scrooge’s before and after – you can play around with the details.
“York’s winding alleyways and tumbledown buildings are so beautifully suited to Dickens that it would have been inconceivable to strike it from my schedule,” says James Swanton. Picture: Jtu Photography
“For all their merits, both The Chimes and The Haunted Man lose their hold on the memory by this structure’s omission.”
Since last December’s run of Ghost Stories for Christmas, James has been hard at work on various filming jobs. “It’s been my year for Christmas ghost stories!” he says. “At the start of 2023, I made two short films, The Dead Of Winter and To Fire You Come At Last, that were indebted to the BBC’s legendary M. R. James adaptations from the 1970s.
“The Dead Of Winter was done in Farnham in January. I’m playing a rough sleeper who becomes a ghostly form of embodied conscience. To Fire You Come At Last was filmed in the wilds of Shropshire in March. I play an alcohol-ravaged wastrel who – along with three equally reluctant men – must carry the coffin of the Squire’s son down the corpse road to the graveyard.
“It’s in black and white and feels like something out of [Samuel] Beckett; the best part I’ve had in years. Both films have been doing the festival rounds, and I know that at least one of them will be getting a physical release before too long.”
A few months ago, League Of Gentlemen alumnus Mark Gatiss asked James to play the ghost in Lot No. 249, his retelling of an Arthur Conan Doyle short story, as part of a cast led by Kit Harington and Freddie Fox.
Television viewers will see James as what the BBC press release calls a “horrifying bag of bones”. Although the precise broadcast time is still to be announced, “this BBC Ghost Story for Christmas coincides very nicely with my ongoing commitment to Dickens’s slightly earlier Victorian Gothic,” says James. “Based on the past few years, I suspect it’ll go out on either December 23 or Christmas Eve itself.
James Swanton, left, and Mark Gattis rehearsing The Quatermass Experiment. Picture: Sonia Sanchez Lopez
“Obsessed with the Gothic as I am, it was a dream fulfilled to become a part of this great tradition. I’d just performed with Gatiss in a stage production of The Quatermass Experiment. He’s steeped in Conan Doyle, and his adaptation is at once gratifyingly faithful and wickedly surprising.
“I’m encased in particularly ghoulish make-up by Dave Elsey, who won the Oscar for The Wolfman. And I do the most dreadful things to Kit Harington! I’m tremendously excited about it all.”
James points out further opportunities to see him at work this Christmas. “As well as Lot No. 249, my one-man film of The Haunted Man will be streamed by the Dickens Museum again on December 11,” he says. “And my on-and-off colleagues, the York Ghost Merchants, in Shambles, might have a few announcements of their own to come.”
More immediately, James has strategic advice for securing tickets for Ghost Stories for Christmas. “Early on is best. Most of my A Christmas Carol showings are crammed into the first week, and there are seats left for all of them,” he says.
“For reasons that remain unclear, November 30 has been a conspicuously slow seller, so I’ll be gladdened if people book for that! The second performances of both The Chimes and The Haunted Man have all but sold out (as of this moment, a single seat remains for each), but tickets can be procured for their first outings.
“With tickets being only £15 each, this could be the perfect way to kick off your festive celebrations. In any case, I look forward to gathering people together for some heart-warming storytelling: traditional to the bones, but speaking to us just as powerfully as it did 180 years ago.”
What’s coming up for James in 2024? “So far, absolutely nothing!” he says. “My tendency has always been to develop pre-show rather than post-show blues, though, so I don’t find this too daunting. I’ll be glad of a slight rest, and perhaps a chance to read Victorian literature instead of act it.”
James Swanton presents Ghost Stories for Christmas at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York: A Christmas Carol, November 27, 28 and 30, then December 1, 5 and 6; The Haunted Man, November 29 and December 7; The Chimes, December 4 and 11. All performances start at 7pm and last approximately one hour. Box office: 01904 623568 or www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
’TIS the season for Dickens shows to begin, from solo shows to a musical, and to venture into Neverland too as Charles Hutchinson gets his festive skates on.
Fantastical adventure of the week and beyond: Christmas In Neverland, Castle Howard, near York, extended until January 7
CASTLE Howard is transformed with floristry, installations, props, soundscapes and projections to create an enchanting festive experience inspired by J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Charlotte Lloyd Webber Event Design’s sixth magical installations inside the 300-year-old country house.
Look out for the Darling children’s London bedroom, Mermaid’s Lagoon, Captain Hook’s Cabin and the Jolly Roger as the design team prioritises sustainability and recycled materials, such as paper and glass, and teams up with Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog, whose immersive projections and soundscapes feature for the first time. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Nunkie Theatre Company’s artwork for Casting The Runes
Thriller of the week: Nunkie Theatre Company in Casting The Runes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday (26/11/2023), 7.30pm
M R James wrote his ghost stories to perform to friends in the years leading up to the First World War. Today they have lost none of their power to terrify and amuse in the hands of Nunkie Theatre Company, presenting two tales in a one-man show.
Casting The Runes’ story of the unforgettable Mr Karswell, magic lanternist, occult historian and scourge of academics, is partnered by James’s most neglected masterpiece, The Residence At Whitminster, wherein a dark shadow looms over the precinct of a peaceful English church. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Who am I? The answer is Bridget Christie, feeling the heat at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Natasha Pszenicki
Comedy gig of the week: Bridget Christie: Who Am I?, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday (26/11/2023), 7.30pm
BRIDGET Christie is hot, but not in a good way, she says, in her menopause comedy, where she is confused, furious, sweaty and annoyed by everything. At 52, she leaks blood, sweats, thinks Chris Rock is the same person as The Rock and cannot ride the motorbike she bought to combat her mid-life crisis because of early osteoarthritis in her hips and RSI in her wrist.
In Who Am I? Christie wonders why there are so many films, made by men, about young women discovering their sexuality, but none about middle-aged women forgetting theirs. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
James Swanton: Presenting Ghost Stories For Christmas at York Medical Society
Dickens of a good storyteller: James Swanton’s Ghost Stories For Christmas, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, select dates from November 27 to December 11, 7pm
SOON to be seen in Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Christmas ghost story for the BBC, gothic York storyteller and actor James Swanton revives his seasonal Charles Dickens trilogy: A Christmas Carol (six performances), on the book’s 180th anniversary, The Haunted Man and The Chimes (two each).
“‘All three stories are richly rewarding,” says James. “They brim with Dickens’s eye for capturing the weird, the strange and the odd, from human eccentricities to full blown phantoms. Dickens’s anger at social injustice also aligns sharply with our own – and of course, there’s a lot to be angry about at the moment.” Box office and performance details: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Joanne Clifton’s Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical at Grand Opera House, York
American musical of the week: Shrek The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinee
LEAVE winter troubles far, far away to join the musical adventure as ogre Shrek (Antony Lawrence) and his buddy Donkey (Brandon Lee Sears) endeavour to complete their quest to defeat the dragon and save Princess Fiona (2016 Strictly champ Joanne Clifton). Look out for James Gillan’s Lord Farquaad too.
Based on the first animated Shrek film, DreamWorks’ musical features such David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori songs as Big Bright Beautiful World and I Know It’s Today alongside Neil Diamond’s climactic I’m A Believer. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kit Stroud as Ebenezer Scrooge in NE Theatre York’s A Christmas Carol
Festive musical of the week: NE Theatre York in A Christmas Carol, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle first staged Alan Menken’s musical version of Charles Dickens’s heart-warming story A Christmas Carol for NE Musicals five years ago. Once more he will combine directing a cast of 60 with playing the chain-clanking Jacob Marley.
Kit Stroud plays Ebenezer Scrooge, whose deep dislike of mankind is interrupted on Christmas Eve by three ghosts who, one by one, warn him of the consequences of the suffering he has caused. Will he join them, or will he mend his ways? Tickets update: all but the first two performances have sold out; last few tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mark Farrelly in Jarman at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Solo play of the week: Mark Farrelly’s Jarman, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm
MARK Farrelly, the writer-performer behind Quention Crisp: Naked Hope and Howerd’s End, turns his attention to Derek Jarman, iconoclastic filmmaker, painter, Prospect Cottage gardener, gay rights activist and writer.
“His influence remains as strong as it was on the day AIDS killed him in 1994, but his story, one of the most extraordinary lives ever lived, has never been told. Until now,” says Farrelly, whose passionate, daring reminder of the courage it takes to truly live when alive takes Jarman from Dungeness to deepest, brightest Soho. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Paul Weller: Returning to York Barbican next spring
Gig announcement of the week: Paul Weller, York Barbican, April 17 2024
THE Modfather Paul Weller will head back to York Barbican next spring after kicking off 2024 with a long-awaited January return to Japan and a trip to Australia, highlighted by three nights at the Sydney Opera House. He last performed at the Barbican in April 2022.
In 2023, Weller has played around Europe, performed a handful of Forest Live shows and had a special guest slot to Blur at Wembley Stadium. Next spring’s 14-date tour also takes in Sheffield City Hall on April 11. Tickets go on sale from Friday, December 1 at 10am at ticketmaster.co.uk, seetickets.com, gigantic.com and paulweller.com.
Quinn Richards leading the promenade route as Charles Dickens/Ebenezer Scrooge in Be Amazing Arts’ A Christmas Carol
MALTON market knows how to market itself. The title of Yorkshire’s Food Capital may be self-anointed, under the bold visions of the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate, but it can pack a punch as much as a lunch in any culinary quest.
Likewise, Malton knows how to maximise – let’s resist the foodie word ‘milk’ here – its links with Charles Dickens, who would perform at the old theatre on his reading tours.
A plaque in Chancery Lane is all that remains of the now closed Scrooge and Marley Counting House/Dickens Museum, long said to be the inspiration for Scrooge’s office in A Christmas Carol, no less.
Those premises were the offices of Dickens’s great friend, lawyer, Charles Smithson, whose wife received an 1844 signed copy of Dickens’s novel on Smithson’s untimely death at 39. What’s more, various characters in Dickens’s stories were based on Malton residents, apparently.
The Ghost of Christmas Past takes to the Malton streets with Ebenezer Scrooge
The Malton Dickensian Festival has delighted audiences, especially with Miriam Margolyes’s hugely enthusiastic celebrated readings. Now comes Be Amazing Arts’ Dickensian enterprise, part of the Malton company’s mission to “tell stories, provide creative opportunities and inspire the next generation of performers”.
Produced by James Aconley, overseen by operations director Natalie Aconley, and adapted by Roxanna Klimaszewska – a name familiar to York audiences from her work with Six Lips Theatre – this immersive promenade production of A Christmas Carol enjoyed its sold-out debut run on Malton’s streets last winter.
If at first you succeed, then of course you should bring it back, with the enticement of “an adapted script, more unexpected stops and Be Amazing’s unearthing of more and more connections between Dickens and the town”.
Sure enough, ticket demand has been just as high this season, the freezing temperatures adding to the atmosphere generated by the story’s ghostly chill, but coupled ultimately with a warmth inside as reviving as the (non-alcoholic) mulled wine served part-way round.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come towers over Scrooge
Aptly, the promenade performance starts at Kemps Books, where Quinn Richards’s elegantly dressed Charles Dickens engages in a conversation with fellow professional actor James Rotchell’s Charles Smithson, excitedly informing him of his latest writing venture, A Christmas Carol.
Whereupon he begins to tell the story, subsequently shifting between upright, engaging narrator/promenade guide Dickens and the stooped, winter-bitter Ebenezer Scrooge.
Rotchell, in turn, switches from ever-supportive Smithson to put-upon office clerk Bob Cratchit and a chain-clad Jacob Marley in the first of the empty Market Place premises taken over for the production run, as children’s fingers tap spookily on the windows.
Rotchell adds generous host Fezziwig to his repertoire, his multi-role playing matched by third professional cast member Kirsty Wolff’s Ghost of Christmas Present, Mrs Cratchit and Clara.
They are joined by members of Be Amazing’s Young Company, who add so much to the scenes both on the streets and inside, from serving the drinks to playing a multitude of characters with such relish, led by Kelly Appleby’s Belle, Erin Warren’s lit-up Ghost of Christmas Past and Torin Pope’s Fred on the night attended by CharlesHutchPress.
Quinn Richards’ Scrooge leans out of an upstairs window to ask a passing boy to buy the biggest turkey in the butcher’s shop
The promenade takes in an empty shop, festive nibbles in the company of the Cratchits at The Cook’s Place cookery school in Market Street and a scene outside St Michael’s Church, where Tiny Tim Cratchit and Scrooge’s forewarning gravestones are placed.
James Aconley promised “something a bit different but also very festive and magical”. Tick, tick and tick, how right he is. Tick tock too, as the loud sound of a clock in the street accompanies Scrooge’s race against time to change from dark to enlightened by Christmas Day morning.
Played out against the backdrop of a winter of discontent, distress, division and dissent, this imaginative, bracing, haunting yet uplifting production is a winning combination of A Christmas Carol and Malton as you have never seen them before (unless you were there last year of course!). A return next year must be on the cards.
Be Amazing Arts in A Christmas Carol, Malton Market Place, December 21, 23 and 24, 7pm. Box office to check ticket availability: 01653 917271 or beamazingarts.co.uk.
Quinn Richards: Lighting up Malton in A Christmas Carol
Cast list for the night CharlesHutchPress attended:
Quinn Richards: Charles Dickens/Ebenezer Scrooge
James Rotchell: Charles Smithson/Jacob Marley/Fezziwig/Bob Cratchit
Kirsty Wolff: Ghost of Christmas Present/Mrs Cratchit/Clara
Kelly Appleby: Belle/Various roles
Erin Warren: Ghost of Christmas Past/Various roles
Dominic Walker: Young Cratchit/Boy/Beggar/Carol Singer
Into The Lights, digital photomontage by Adele Karmazyn, from her Hidden Spaces exhibition at City Screen Picturehouse, York
IT’S beginning to look a lot like Christmas will be the be all and end all of Charles Hutchinson’s list. Except for a bite of comedy, a Scotsman and hidden digital artworks, that is.
Exhibition launch of the week: Adele Karmazyn, Hidden Spaces, City Screen Picturehouse café, York, from Monday to January 14 2023
INSPIRED by this year’s York Unlocked event, York Open Studios regular Adele Karmazyn has embraced the opportunity to visit this historic city’s hidden spaces, taking photographs on the way.
These photos create the backdrop for her new body of work, each piece evolving into an individual story when she brings in her 19th century characters, taken from old cabinet photographs, and combines these with other photographs of objects, landscapes and creatures in her digital photomontages. By merging multiple layers and concentrating on light and depth, Adele creates “realistic, believable scenarios, which at the same time could never possibly be”.
Promenade light for dark nights: Quinn Richards leads the way as Charles Dickens in Be Amazing Arts’ A Christmas Carol in Malton Market Place
Promenade event of the week: Be Amazing Arts in A Christmas Carol, Malton Market Place, until December 24, 7pm nightly (except December 16 and 22); 5pm on Christmas Eve
AFTER a sell-out debut run in 2021, Be Amazing Arts return to Malton Market Place with Rozanna Klimaszewska’s promenade adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in the market town where Dickens himself performed at the long-gone theatre.
Starting out at Kemps General Store, this immersive theatre and dining experience invites you to follow Dickens (Quinn Richards, who also plays Ebenezer Scrooge) as he tells the story and brings to life Dickens’s characters alongside fellow professionals James Rotchell and Kirsty Wolff and Be Amazing’s Young Company. Festive canapes and a warming winter drink are provided by The Cook’s Place. Box office: 01653 917271 or beamazingarts.co.uk.
Mari Christmas: Mari Wilson in festive mood at Selby Town Hall tonight
Have yourself a Mari little Christmas: Mari Wilson, Selby Town Hall, tonight, 8pm
JUST what you always wanted: A Mari Christmas from Neasden’s “Nymphette of Nail Varnish and High Priestess of Hair Spray”, Miss Beehive, songstress Mari Wilson, who will be combining her Eighties’ hits with tunes of Yuletide yesterdays, a Singalong-a-Christmas and seasonal surprises. Dressing up is a must for the complete Wilsational night. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.
Fresh from Squeeze’s Food For Thought autumn tour, Chris Difford is doing the solo rounds, returning to Selby on Friday. Sold out, alas.
Mostly Autumn: Winter songs at The Crescent
Entirely winter from… Mostly Autumn Christmas Show!, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 8pm (doors 7pm)
YORK prog-rockers Mostly Autumn celebrate Christmas with a standing show at The Crescent, sure to feature For Everyone At Christmastime. Expect hard rock, Celtic themes, traces of trad folk and more contemporary influences too in a set of festive fireworks from Bryan Josh, Olivia Sparnenn-Josh, Angela Gordon and co for devotes of Seventies’ Genesis, Pink Floyd, Camel, Renaissance and Jethro Tull, before they head off to Belgium next week. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
O little voices of Barbican: York’s community carol concert
Christmas institution of the week: York Community Carol Concert, York Barbican, Sunday, 2pm
AFTER 64 years, York’s community carol concert draws in all ages and still plays to full houses. Taking part this time will be York Railway Institute Band; Osbaldwick Primary Academy Choir; St Oswald’s CE Primary School; Stamford Bridge Community Choir and York singer, songwriter and guitarist Steve Cassidy.
Mike Pratt is the musical director, with the Reverend Andrew Foster and BBC Radio York presenter Adam Tomlinson as the co-hosts, for an afternoon of Christmas carols and songs in aid of the Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York’s Christmas Cheer Fund and Martin House Children’s Hospice. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Rick Wakeman: Re-awakening songs with a Christmas twist and festive flair at York Barbican
More Christmas events at York Barbican: Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol: Live In Concert, Monday, 7pm; Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Christmas Stocking, Tuesday, 7.30pm; Emma Bunton: The Christmas Show 2022, December 16, 8pm
DISNEY’S The Muppet Christmas Carol, the one with Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Michael Caine as stingy Ebenezer Scrooge, Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit, will be accompanied by a live performance of the musical score.
Yes organist Rick Wakeman gives a Yuletide twist to his grand piano and electric keyboard arrangements of songs from his own career and others, plus a few surprises, punctuated by stories.
Emma Bunton spices up her Christmas Party with solo career hits, Spice Girls staples and festive favourites. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
No More, vows Steve Mason, in his tour show at The Crescent, York
Most welcome Scottish visitor of the week: Steve Mason, No More Tour, The Crescent, York, Thursday, 7.30pm
SCOTSMAN Steve Mason is joined by keyboardist Darren Morris on his No More Tour, named after his new single. Melodious material from his Beta Band days and solo catalogue are promised, along with a showcase of songs from Brothers And Sisters, his first album since January 2019’s About The Light, ready for release in 2023. Cobain Jones is the support act. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Russell Kane: His strain of comedy will keep on running in 2022
Comedy gigs of the week: Russell Kane Live!: The Essex Variant, York Barbican, Wednesday, 8pm; Dara OBriain: So…Where Were We?, York Barbican, Thursday, 8pm
MAN Baggage and Evil Genius podcaster, comedian, actor, writer and presenter Russell Kane discusses “the two years we’ve just gone through” in his Essex variant of Covid comedy.
By way of contrast, in his sold-out return, Irishman Dara OBriain will “hardly mention the last year and a half, because, Jesus, who wants to hear about that but will instead fire out the usual mix of stories, one-liners and audience messing”. Box office: for Kane tickets only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
So…where are you on Tuesday, Dara? At a sold out York Barbican for “the usual mix of stories, one-liners and audience messing”
“I’m rarely happier than at the authentically Dickensian location of York Medical Society,” says James Swanton
YORK horror actor and ghost storyteller James Swanton returns to his familiar haunt of York Medical Society from tomorrow (29/11/2022) with his most ambitious schedule of Charles Dickens stories.
This past Outstanding Performing Artist winner in the York Culture Awards is reviving Ghost Stories for Christmas, complementing 12 shows in York with 20 more around the country.
James’s hour-long solo renditions of A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man will play select dates in York from the earlier-than-usual opening date of November 29 to December 20, as well as transferring to London’s Charles Dickens Museum in the run-up to Christmas.
“I’m delighted to once again be acting in my home city of York, and I’m rarely happier than at the authentically Dickensian location of York Medical Society on Stonegate,” says James.
“I’ve had a busy year on the film front, which means I’ve been variously transported to the Netherlands, Los Angeles, Serbia and Italy across the last 12 months. All very exciting, but Christmas is a time for home.”
James has never given more performances of A Christmas Carol than this year – eight alone in York! “I’m greatly looking forward to all of them, as they’re reliably cheerful experiences at what’s often the most stressful time of the year,” he says.
“However, the two lesser-known stories, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, are also very suited to our times. The Chimes is absolutely hilarious, yet it overbrims with anger at the injustices done to the least fortunate in society; The Haunted Man is a chilling supernatural tale but also a portrait of a man struggling with his mental health.
“These subjects have been much on our minds in recent years, and Dickens attacks them in a fashion that’s not only powerful but intensely hopeful.
“I look forward to gathering people together for an hour of truly heart-warming storytelling. God knows we need it,” says James
“A Christmas Carol, of course, is one of the greatest things ever written. I’ve found there’s little that’s more rewarding to perform as an actor. And there’s certainly no story that audiences are more eager to hear to the end.”
Despite the successful run of Ghost Stories for Christmas last December, James has not been seen on a York stage this year. “Although the world’s opening up and theatre’s getting back to normal, 2022 has been a year of film work – horror film work, specifically, which is what happens when you have a face like mine.”
As well as the Netherlands, Serbia and Italy, James was even whisked off to Los Angeles for “a mad couple of days”. “Annoyingly, most of these projects I’m not allowed to talk about yet – although I did make a feature film of The Haunted Man that streams through the Charles Dickens Museum’s website on December 4. So that’s a viable alternative for those who are still hesitant about attending live shows.”
As usual, the York run of Ghost Stories for Christmas is selling quickly, prompting James to offer strategic advice for securing tickets. “The best availability is at the start of the run, particularly the first few performances of A Christmas Carol and The Chimes in late November and early December,” he says.
“In defiance of the cost-of-living crisis, I’ve kept the ticket price exactly the same as when I last gave the shows. £14 a ticket is a snip these days, so if you’re looking for an activity for a large party, these ghost stories might be the perfect solution.
“In any case, I look forward to gathering people together for an hour of truly heart-warming storytelling. God knows we need it.”
James Swanton, Ghost Stories for Christmas, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, November 29 to December 20. A Christmas Carol will be performed on November 29 and December 1, 5, 6, 7, 12, 19 and 20; The Haunted Man, November 30 and December 10; The Chimes, December 8 and 13.
All performances start at 7pm and last approximately one hour. Tickets: 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or in person from the Theatre Royal box office.
“I believe A Christmas Carol’s message rings out with as much urgency as it ever did,” says James
CharlesHutchPress asks the questions to dig out the stories behind York’s gothic storyteller supreme, James Swanton
Why does the York Medical Society so suit ghost-storytelling events, James?
“The building’s a properly ancient pile, festooned with dark wood panelling, open fireplaces, gilt-framed portraits and obscure implements in glass cases. It feels entirely plausible that it might host a ghost or two.
“As I constantly point out, the site offers complete atmospheric immersion: approaching the front door by that tapered alleyway leading off Stonegate feels just like approaching Scrooge’s house on Christmas Eve. And let’s also remember that a former director of York Medical Society was a social acquaintance of Dickens.
“The building could scarcely be more magnificently haunted, so I was glad to see that my on-and-off collaborators at the York Ghost Merchants made use of it over Halloween.”
For those yet to see The Haunted Man, why should they do so? “The Haunted Manis an overlooked Gothic chiller that often plays like a ghost-infused dress rehearsal for Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde. The narrative is steeped in quintessential Victorian gloom yet also feels peculiarly modern, in that it explores its protagonist’s poor mental health.
“It’s all very dark and deep – the most difficult of the three pieces to act, but perhaps the most rewarding when it clicks. That said, there remain only three tickets for its York showings, so interested parties might be better off reserving places for the filmed version being streamed by the Dickens Museum on December 4.
Likewise, for those yet to see The Chimes, why should they do so? “The Chimes is a remarkably strange riff on the Christmas Carolformula. The first half is a scathing social critique, at times less story than soapbox; then the second half plays out like a more demented take on It’s A Wonderful Life.
“The whole story comes thrillingly close to falling apart under the sheer weight of its own ideas, but Dickens manages (just) to keep it all together. There are goblins too: many, many goblins. The Victorians were fascinated by goblins – and I think we should be too!”
Given the bleak chill afflicting so many lives in 2022, with society more divided than ever, does A Christmas Carol strike you as being even more resonant this Christmas?
“I believe its message rings out with as much urgency as it ever did – though perhaps ‘God Bless Us, Every One!’ now seems a little less fitting than ‘God Help Us, Every One!’.
“Scrooge has to go through hell to find redemption; if only our current ruling masters were forced to face a bit of the same,” says James
“The spectres of Ignorance and Want are obviously keenly felt at a time when an individual as grotesque as Matt Hancock can be forgiven his sins by simply appearing on television. (All that uncritical publicity for the measly appearance fee of £400,000).
“Scrooge has to go through hell to find redemption; if only our current ruling masters were forced to face a bit of the same. They never do, of course. Dickens would have heartily despised them – and no doubt pilloried them in his seasonal ghost stories. Merry Christmas.”
What has prompted you to do even more performances this winter in York and beyond? “Essentially, I really enjoy doing them – provided my voice and limbs hold out! – and even though the earliest of the stories, A Christmas Carol, turns 180 in 2023, public demand for it seems to grow year on year.
“Even last Christmas, with so much Covid hesitancy surrounding live theatre, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the shows sold.”
What was the filming process for The Haunted Man that will be streamed through the Charles Dickens Museum. Was it a filmed version of your stage performance or were there new elements to it?
“Over the lockdown years, the Dickens Museum started to create these ingenious little streamed films, usually starring seasoned Dickensian actor Dominic Gerrard (his podcast Charles Dickens: A Brain On Fire is required listening for enthusiasts).
“I was keen to do the same with The Haunted Man as it’s one of the very few Dickens stories of any substantial length that’s never been filmed. The results are faithful to the stage version – it’s just me telling the tale, after all– but with lots of appealing bells and whistles: a magical coloured lighting palette, an ambient soundscape and a few low-key special effects, not least of which is everything being filmed within Dickens’s actual London house.
“I’m indebted to Jordan Evans-Hill at the Dickens Museum for pushing for it to be made and to Alex Hyndman for doing such a beautiful job on the filming and editing.
“I want people to see the shows without being deterred by yet another price hike,” says James
You can’t say much about filming in the Netherlands, Serbia and Italy this year, or being whisked to LA for a mad couple of days, but can you say at least a little more about them?!!
“I really can’t! I’m in non-disclosure agreements up to my eyeballs! What I will divulge is that I’ve been playing two parts that provide a most vindicating extension on a part I’ve already played in York.
“Even within the demands of a 48-hour round-trip to Hollywood – quite the most preposterous thing that’s ever happened to me – I have therefore been honouring my northern heritage! And as a dyed-in-the-wool horror enthusiast, I was thrilled to be involved with these films in particular. Announcements and releases to follow in 2023, I hope.”
You have kept the Ghost Stories for Christmas ticket price at £14. Why, when everything else is going up?
“I want people to see the shows without being deterred by yet another price hike. It’s worth pointing out that Dickens took special measures to ensure that people in every income bracket could experience his public readings.
“He wasn’t always successful, what with ticket-scalpers being a crafty breed, so, in that respect, I’m fortunate not to be a global celebrity (one man was actually killed in a fight over a ticket to see Dickens).
“Given that the main thrust of A Christmas Carol is anyway to spread the wealth around, it struck me as self-sabotage to charge more at a time when things only appear (just like every year) to be getting worse.”
What’s in the pipeline for you in 2023?
“I have nothing planned other than complete nervous collapse. I continue to pray for Richard III, though I expect I’ll be weary enough come January that I’d only convince as the version lying peacefully beneath that car park in Leicester.”
Ghost Stories For Christmas, part two: James Swanton, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, select dates from November 29 to December 20, 7pm
The Chimes they are a-clangin’ in James Swanton’s account a Charles Dickens novella
REVIEW: The Chimes, James Swanton’s Ghost Stories For Christmas, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, 8/12/2022
YORK’S gothic ghost storyteller supreme and film actor to boot, James Swanton, is part way through his most ambitious Dickensian schedule yet, with 12 shows back home and around 20 more around the country, transferring to London’s Charles Dickens Museum in the run-up to Christmas.
Ghost Stories For Christmas is made up of Swanton’s hour-long solo renditions of A Christmas Carol (eight performances) and the lesser-known The Chimes and The Haunted Man (two nights each).
Tonight (13/12/2022) is the second chance to hearThe Chimes, subtitled A Goblin Story Of Some Bells That Rang An Old Year Out And A New Year In. In Swanton’s nutshell, the first half is like music hall, the second more like Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, only more miserable.
Swanton, in immaculate Dickensian attire topped off by the most dapper of hats, greets you at the door, passing brief, apologetic comment on the non-Victorian scaffolding outside, but he is the master of atmosphere at the flick-off of a switch.
A single dim light picks out his face, sometimes enhanced by lamplight to emphasise his elongated features, his wide mouth, his narrow frame, gaunt pallor and impossibly long fingers. All this physicality goes into his storytelling, as important as his chameleon voice in creating character and tone as he spins Dickens’s tale with humour, intrigue, coloratura and just the right depth yet economy of detail.
First published in 1844 as the second in Dickens’s series of Christmas novellas, The Chimes was inspired by his year-long stay in Italy, and in particular by the clamour of the Genoese church bells.
At the heart of the story is Trotty, an elderly messenger, and in no time Swanton has evoked myriad characters, from daughter Meg and fiancé Richard, to pompous Alderman Cute (your reviewer’s favourite) and ostentatious charity-dispensing MP Sir Joseph Bowley, poor countryman Will Fern and his orphaned niece Lilian.
In the church bell chamber, Trotty encounters the spirits of the bells and their goblin attendants, and here is where It’s A Wonderful Life comparisons fall into place as he is scalded for losing faith in man’s destiny to improve. So much more unfolds in a series of visions, portrayed so eloquently and ingeniously by Swanton in a night so chilling yet warming.
Ghost Stories For Christmas runs until December 20 on various dates.All performances start at 7pm and last approximately one hour. Tickets: 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or in person from the Theatre Royal box office.
CHRISTMAS shows, Christmas concerts, Christmas plays, ‘tis the season for Charles Hutchinson’s diary to be jolly full.
Jason Manford: “Exercising the old chuckle muscle”
Busy week for comedy: Jason Manford: Like Me, York Barbican, Thursday and Friday, 7.30pm.
SALFORD’S Jason Manford revives his funny-bloke-next-door schtick for Like Me, his follow-up to “the fun we had on my last tour”, Muddle Class, a show about turning from working class to middle class that played York Barbican in February and October 2018.
“In these trying times, it’s always important to be able to get away for a couple of hours and exercise the old chuckle muscle,” reckons Manford, 40, who has tickets available for both nights at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Meanwhile, Jack Dee’s Off The Telly gig, moved from April 25 2020 to tomorrow night, has sold out. So too have Alan Carr’s Regional Trinket shows on December 18 and 19.
Filey Brigg, seascape, by Rosie Dean at Village Gallery, York
Exhibition of the week: Rosie Dean, Seascapes, Village Gallery, Castlegate, York, until January 22, open 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
SEASCAPE artist Rosie Dean has taken part in York Open Studios for the past ten years. Now she is exhibiting at Simon Main’s Village Gallery through the winter months.
“I feel total peace breathing the ozone, staring out to sea and focusing on the horizon line, sensing all around me and feeling the elements around me, the sights and sounds, the salt in the air. Pure contentment,” says Rosie.
Levellers: Part of York Barbican’s busy week for concerts. Picture: Steve Gullick
Curiosity concert of the week: The Magical Music Of Harry Potter Live In Concert With The Weasleys, York Barbican, Monday 8pm.
POTTY about Potter? Then exit those Shambles shops and head to York Barbican for a night of music from Harry’s films and the West End musical, performed by the London Symphonic & Philharmonic Film Orchestra with the Weasley brothers in tow.
Original actors, magic, star soloists, a choir and the orchestra combine in the debut European tour’s programme of John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicolas Hooper and Alexander Desplat’s soundtrack magical moments, plus selections from the Harry Potter And The Cursed Child score.
More music in York Barbican’s crammed pre-Christmas diary comes from Levellers, Brighton’s folk-rock stalwarts, tonight and Steve Steinman’s tribute show, Anything For Love: The Meat Loaf Story, on Wednesday, both at 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Steve Mason: Solo gig at Stockton on the Forest Village Hall
If you seek out one gig, make it: Steve Mason, Stockton on the Forest Village Hall, near York, Tuesday, doors, 8pm; start, 8.30pm.
STEVE Mason was the frontman of The Beta Band, cult Scottish exponents of folktronica, a blend of folk, psychedelia, electronica, experimental rock and trip hop.
He first dipped his toe into solo work on Black Gold, his mournful 2006 album under the guise of the short-lived King Biscuit Time and has since released Boys Outside in 2010, Ghosts Outside with Dennis Bovell in 2011, Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time in 2013, Meet The Humans in 2016 and About The Light in 2019.
Presented by All Off The Beaten Track, Mason will play solo on Tuesday. Box office: seetickets.com/event/steve-mason/stockton-on-the-forest-village-hall.
The poster for The Arts Barge Christmas Party! at The Crescent, York
Christmas jamboree of the week: The Arts Barge Christmas Party!, The Crescent, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm.
THREE York community musical groups, Bargestra, The Stonegate Singers and The Blind Tiger Dance Band, unite for the Arts Barge Christmas bash.
Bargestra, the 20-piece Arts Barge band skippered by Christian Topman, play jazz, swing, Beatles, ska and more. The Stonegate Singers, a community choir open to anyone, is directed by Jon Hughes, who teaches the music by ear, one part at a time, so that anyone can do it.
The Blind Tiger Dance Band, Arts Barge’s 16-piece Lindy Hop swing band with Rinkadon Dukeboy up front, brings together seasoned professionals and rising young instrumentalists. All three groups will join together to make a 50-piece ensemble for the festive finale.
Recommended but alas sold out already at The Crescent are Christmas shows by Mostly Autumn on Sunday and fellow York band The Howl & The Hum on Wednesday, both at 7.30pm.
Chapter House Choir at the double: Carols by Candlelight, York Minster, Wednesday; Festival of Carols, St Michael-le-Belfrey, York, December 18, both at 7.30pm.
THE Chapter House Choir’s Carols by Candlelight at York Minster has sold out, but a second chance to hear the York choir and its bell ringers comes at St Michael-le-Belfrey.
Tickets for a Festival of Carols are available via Eventbrite, but do hurry because they are limited in number and selling fast.
Danny Mellor and Meg Matthews in Badapple Theatre Company’s The Snow Dancer. Picture: Karl Andre Photography
Global warming alert of the week: Badapple Theatre Company in The Snow Dancer, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Thursday, 7pm; Green Hammerton Village Hall, December 20, 2pm
GREEN Hammerton’s Badapple Theatre Company has revived artistic director Kate Bramley’s magical eco-fable, The Snow Dancer, for its latest rural tour.
Bramley’s original story blends festive family entertainment with an important eco-message and an original score by Jez Lowe, as actors Meg Matthews and Danny Mellor tell the story of the animals of The Great Wood, who are desperate for a long sleep, but find it too warm because something is awry.
The intrepid heroes in this fairy tale with a furry tail must search for the mysterious Snow Dancer to make it snow if they are ever to sleep. Box office: York, 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Green Hammerton, 01423 339168.
York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s artwork for A Nativity For York…Out Of The Darkness
Christmas plays of the week: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York…Out Of The Darkness, Spurriergate Centre, Spurriergate, York, December 17, 7pm; December 18, 2pm, 4pm, 6.30pm. A Christmas Carol, Mansion House, York, December 17 to 19, 7pm.
TERRY Ram directs the second York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust community production for Christmas, drawn from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays in the old church atmosphere of the Spurriergate Centre. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/york-mystery-plays-supporters-trust.
The Penny Magpie Theatre Company, from York, have sold out all three Mansion House performances of director Samantha Hindman’s adaptation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, a version seen through the eyes of modern-day schoolboy Jon, who is gradually welcomed into Scrooge’s redemptive tale. Carols, mince pies, mulled wine and a house tour complete the festive experience.
Freedom is…Johannes Radebe’s debut tour show at at the Grand Opera House, York, next spring
Leaping into 2022: Johannes Radebe, Freedom, Grand Opera House, York, April 12, 7.30pm.
MAKING swish waves with baker John Whaite in Strictly Come Dancing’s first all-male coupling, South African dancer Johannes Radebe has announced his debut tour, Freedom.
Radebe will lead a company of dancers in classic Ballroom and Latin arrangements, scorching South African rhythms and huge party anthems, as he takes you on his journey from growing up in Zamdela, to travelling the world, winning competitions and becoming a Strictly professional.
“Leave your inhibitions at the door and get ready for a night of energy, passion and freedom,” he says. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
James Swanton: “Old-fashioned storytelling in a suitably atmospheric space”. Picture: Jtu Photography
AFTER the silent nights of last December, York gothic actor supreme James Swanton is gleefully reviving his Ghost Stories For Christmas trilogy at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York.
“What an enormous relief it is to return to live theatre,” says this former winner of the Outstanding Performing Artist prize in the now dormant York Culture Awards as he prepares for his Dickensian yarn-spinning residency on various dates from December 2 to 13.
Once more, he will be the black-clad, spindle-fingered gatekeeper for all manner of supernatural terrors after memorising three hours of wintery material for his “seasonal roulette of three Dickensian tales”.
Ghost Stories For Christmas comprises James’s solo renditions of A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, returning to life anew in York before transferring to the Charles Dickens Museum, in Doughty Street, London, in the run-up to Christmas.
James’s past Dickensian theatre work has met with the approval of notable fellow thesps Simon Callow and Miriam Margolyes, the former describing his West End show Sikes & Nancy as “startling and enthralling”; the latter finding his 2017 performances at the Dickens Museum “extraordinary”, “superb” and “pictorially vivid”.
‘I’m delighted to finally be getting back to live theatre in my home city of York, where it’s hard to imagine a more authentically Dickensian location than the York Medical Society on Stonegate,” says James.
“This year, I’ve scheduled extra performances of A Christmas Carol: the perfect cheering antidote, I feel, to the misery we’ve all been through over the past few years.
“But the two lesser-known stories, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, are also very relevant to our times. The Chimes is absolutely hilarious, but also overbrims with anger at the injustices done to the most unfortunate in society. And The Haunted Man is not only a chilling supernatural tale, but a portrait of a man wrestling with his mental health. These subjects have been much on our minds through the pandemic.”
James judges A Christmas Carol to be “one of the greatest things ever written”. “I’ve found there’s nothing more satisfying to perform as an actor. And there’s no story that audiences are more eager to hear to the end,” he reasons.
As in 2018 and 2019, Ghost Stories For Christmas is selling quickly. “I was shocked 36 hours ago to find that we’d sold 80 per cent of the seats – I think because York Theatre Royal put us in their email newsletter – so I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re completely sold out in the next few days,” says James.
“I’m hoping – if I give the shows next year – to do them at fuller capacity over a longer period. We’re up to seven nights this year, but I wonder if we might build on even that when we get to (I hope) post-pandemic times. Perhaps a bigger venue is something to look into too.”
James Swanton presents Ghost Stories For Christmas, by Charles Dickens, at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, December 2 to 13. A Christmas Carol: December 2, 3, 6, 7 and 13. The Haunted Man: December 4. The Chimes, December 9. All performances start at 7pm and last approximately one hour. To book, make haste to the York Theatre Royal box office, ring 01904 623568 or head online to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
“It’s ironic that the Victorian Christmas has come to stand for a fairytale vision of an idyllic past,” says James Swanton. Picture: Jtu Phoography
Ahead of his Dickens of a theatrical task in York, James Swanton answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions.
What form do your three shows take: a reading or rather more than that in each one-man show?
“I’m happy to say that these are fully fledged dramatisations rather than Jackanory-style readings. It is quite the Labour of Hercules: 180 minutes of text to memorise to cover the three one-hour readings! But it’s worth it to ensure these pieces are truly alive. My abridgements are closely based on Dickens’s own performance scripts, so their faith to their sources is absolute.”
Will you use a similar performance style for each tale?
“This is old-fashioned storytelling in a suitably atmospheric space. I’m hoping to use every physical and vocal trick in my repertoire to make the audience see Dickens’s pictures as clearly as I do myself.”
What are the storylines in The Chimes and The Haunted Man?
“Just like A Christmas Carol, these lesser-known works hinge on disenchanted older men who must encounter the supernatural to change for the better. The Chimes is the exuberant tale of a lowly ticket-porter who finds goblins squatting in the bells of his local church.
“Meanwhile, The Haunted Man is a Gothic chiller about a chemist who hatches a bargain with his ghostly double to remove all of his sorrowful memories.”
What have you been up to since you were last to be spotted on a York stage pre-Covid’s grim clasp?
“Continuing my supernatural association, I’ve just been back on a southern stage, thanks to the London Horror Festival, with a very delayed revival of Irving Undead – a production that of course originated at York Medical Society.
“I’ve maintained the home connection by livestreaming M. R. James and Dickens ghost stories with the wonderful York Ghost Merchants throughout the pandemic, from their premises on Shambles to a global audience.
“People would tune in from the most astonishingly far-flung places: various different states in America, Canada, Australia! It was touching to know that people were coming together to share a moment in the middle of the pandemic.’
“And I’ve bashed out horror film after horror film, including the phenomenally popular Host, in which I make the cameo of the century – to absolutely nobody’s surprise – as the demonic spirit who crashes the Zoom call. Business as (un)usual.”
How did you make the Zoom-set Host under Covid conditions?
“The actors shot it at home on their mobile phones during the first lockdown. I struggle to think of any other feature film that’s been partly shot in Acomb – never mind one that went on to reach a global audience.
“Stephen King said he enjoyed it, which was a bit of a thrill, and it was heralded by many critics as the defining horror film of 2020.”
Does the miserable impact of Covid-19’s lockdowns and its refusal to die a death gracefully put the telling of ghost stories in a different light this Christmas?
“I’m sure it does. These tales are all rather death-obsessed beneath their jollier garnishings, though perhaps it’ll make us more inclined to go to these stories for escapism now.
“We only have a very, very little time to get life right; to leave this world fractionally better than when we entered it,” says James Swanton. Picture: Jtu Photography
“It’s ironic that the Victorian Christmas has come to stand for a fairytale vision of an idyllic past. Dickens was under no such illusions: The Chimes is especially furious – an unhinged rant in places – though A Christmas Carol isn’t far behind.”
How will the theatre-going experience at York Medical Society differ from the 2019 production? Masks on? Social distancing?
“To keep everyone safe in these uncertain times, it’s primarily been a matter of reducing capacity to give audiences that vital breathing space, so we’re on course for a sell-out much earlier than usual.
“The dividend is that this should guarantee an even more intimate and special experience for those who are able to secure a ticket. But they better rush!”
What makes York Medical Society such a good setting for your performances?
“It’s a building that feels properly immersive: travelling down that alley to the door with the knocker feels like an approach to Scrooge’s house on that fatal night when Jacob Marley’s face put in an appearance.
“I’ve also been pleased to discover that Henry Belcombe, the second president of York Medical Society, was a social acquaintance of Charles Dickens.”
Were you tempted to look at doing any new additions to your Dickens’ Christmas repertoire? Might that happen in future?
“I think the present three work rather well in concert, each one shedding light on the others. Dickens’s other Christmas books can be terribly twee; I did all five at the Dickens Museum in 2017, and Michael Slater (our foremost Dickens scholar) came to The Battle Of Life on the basis that he couldn’t believe anyone had been mad enough to attempt it.
“Of Dickens’s spookier stories, I last year had a crack at The Signal-Man with the York Ghost Merchants – but a less Christmassy tale can hardly be imagined!”
As a performer, what changes when you revisit material you have performed previously? Do you tweak the text at all?
“The material changes as I change; little details leap out or recede every year. For instance, I’ve this time been struck by how Scrooge, like almost all people who pride themselves on ice-cold rationality, turns out to be a being of emotion beyond anything. He bursts into tears at the drop of a hat throughout his story.
“More practically, the text of The Haunted Man has been in a state of flux from the word go. It’s the only one of the three that Dickens didn’t perform himself – he started preparing a script before abandoning it – so I’m determined to one day crack it.”
What can we learn as a modern society from social reformist Dickens’s ideal of a good Christmas?
“Focus on your family. The Christmas dinner served up by the Cratchits is impoverished indeed, but their delight in each other’s company makes it into a feast.
“But Dickens also means us to acknowledge the entire human family. We are all of us connected and we only have a very, very little time to get life right; to leave this world fractionally better than when we entered it.”
Chain reaction: Everal A. Walsh’s Jacob Marley will set Ebenezer Scrooge on his path to redemption in A Christmas Carol. Picture: Anthony Robling
BAH, Tier 3 Humbug. A Christmas Carol should have been opening at Leeds Playhouse tomorrow for a run until January 9, but then came the Government’s latest killjoy message for much of the north.
The Playhouse’s response is to go ahead anyway…but for five special online performances only, from December 21 to 23.
“Just as the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future try to instil in Scrooge some seasonal spirit, Leeds Playhouse remains committed to spreading much-needed festive cheer across the city and beyond this year, with ‘as live’ digital screenings of its sensational family show A Christmas Carol,” says the Playhouse statement.
“As Leeds remains in Tier 3, the Playhouse is sadly unable to welcome people into its Quarry Theatre to enjoy the production in person, but we remain determined that audiences will be able to experience the spirit, fun, music and magic of A Christmas Carol in the run-up to the big day.”
Leeds Playhouse has worked with Pilot Theatre, resident company at York Theatre Royal, to film the production and share it for free with care homes, schools and hospitals in Leeds.
“It’s brilliant to be working in a new partnership with Leeds Playhouse on Playhouse At Home,” says Pilot Theatre artistic director Esther Richardson. “We know how disappointing it is for everyone this Christmas in Leeds not to be able to attend theatre performances, but if you access the show via your television, or the largest screen you have at home, it’s amazing how close our team are able to make you feel to the actors and the magic of this enduring Christmas story.”
Dan Parr in Leeds Playhouse’s production of A Christmas Carol. Picture: Anthony Robling
Now, tickets are being made available to the wider public for online performances at 7pm on December 21, then 2pm and 7pm on December 22 and 23. Prices start at £10, but be warned, numbers are limited, so early booking is advised to avoid disappointment.
Charles Dickens’s winter evergreen can be enjoyed in the comfort and safety of homes – whether in Tier 3 across West Yorkshire or Tier 2 in York and North Yorkshire – in Huddersfield-born Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation, premiered at Hull Truck Theatre in December 2017, when directed by Amy Leach.
Now associate director at Leeds Playhouse, Leach is directing this season’s production too, wherein the spirits of theatre past, present and future emerge from ghost lights centre stage to share with miser Ebenezer Scrooge the true meaning of this festive time of year.
On Christmas Eve in Victorian Leeds, the cold-hearted Scrooge has not spread an ounce of festive cheer. As the cold night draws in, first Jacob Marley, then the ghostly spirits, take Scrooge on his frightening but enlightening magical journey, hoping to show him the error of his ways.
“Our vivid retelling of one of the best-loved stories in English literature was inspired by the evocative beauty and intrinsic hope of the ghost lights that continued to burn bright while theatres across the land were forced to go dark when the pandemic hit,” says Leach.
“Our aim now with Playhouse At Home is to share that same light and hope with people in their own homes, giving them the best seats in the house for a story infused with goodwill, festive spirit and optimism. What a way to kick off Christmas week!”
Playwright Deborah McAndrew
As part of the Playhouse’s on-going commitment to supporting the Leeds community, the Quarry Hill theatre is gifting a free screening to closed wards of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, so patients can enjoy the on-stage magic even while they are in hospital over the festive period.
The offer is being extended to the Playhouse’s Burberry Inspire partner schools, residents in three care homes and to two day-service settings for adults with a learning disability.
Ticket holders who booked for cancelled shows will be sent the digital version for free. In addition, the Playhouse will bring A Christmas Carol to 1,000 NHS key workers and their families as part of the #LeedsSaysThanks scheme.
Playhouse artistic director James Brining says: “It feels more important than ever that we should honour our ongoing commitment to the wider Playhouse community in Leeds, the city region and beyond, giving our more vulnerable neighbours the chance to experience the life-enhancing joy of live theatre at Christmas in the comfort and safety of familiar surroundings.”
Reflecting on “undoubtedly an incredibly challenging year”, Brining says: “With challenge comes innovation. We launched Playhouse Connect during lockdown to stay creatively engaged with more than 4,000 people across Leeds.
Jack Lord’s Ebenezer Scrooge, centre, has his measly meal interrupted by the nightcap-bothering Lladel Bryant in Leeds Playhouse’s A Christmas Carol. Picture: Anthony Robling
“This resulted in a collated series of dynamic online projects that we were able to successfully share with a much wider digital audience. We have also previously partnered with the National Theatre and Curve on lockdown screenings of Barber Shop Chronicles and My Beautiful Laundrette.
“Playhouse At Home is the next logical step, giving us a vital outlet for the incredible work we are continuing to produce, and audiences an essential opportunity to experience inspiring and energising theatre at home.”
Jack Lord will play Ebenezer Scrooge; Stephen Collins and Nadia Nadarajah, Bob and Mrs Cratchit; Dan Parr, Young Scrooge and Fred; Tessa Parr, Christmas Past; Lladel Bryant, Dick Wilkins and Topper, and Everal A. Walsh, Marley and Fezziwig.
Lisa Howard, last seen in York in Park Bench Theatre’s late-summer premiere of Matt Aston’s lockdown play Every Time A Bell Rings in Rowntree Park, will take the roles of Christmas Present and Mrs Fezziwig.
Leach, who directed Oliver Twist at Leeds Playhouse in February, is joined in the creative team by designer Hayley Grindle; lighting designer Chris Davey; Leeds composer and music director John Biddle; Otley sound designer Ed Clarke; Leeds BSL consultant Adam Bassett; choreographer Lucy Cullingford; puppet designer Rachael Canning and puppet director Elisa De Grey.
The socially distanced Leeds Playhouse company in A Christmas Carol. Picture: Anthony Robling
Tickets (£10/£12/£150 can be booked at leedsplayhouse.org.uk or 0113 213 7700 with access for 48 hours from the ticket time. All performances include integrated British Sign Language (BSL), captioning and features creative audio description, courtesy of Hear The Picture.
