Skip to main content

A Christmas Carol

Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh

Four stars

 

Charles Dickens has never just been for Christmas, but at this time of year his seasonal masterpiece comes fully into focus. This was proven over the weekend in glowing fashion by Guy Masterson, the indefatigable Edinburgh Festival Fringe veteran, whose solo rendition of Dickens’ tale adapted by director Nick Hennegan gets back to the storytelling heart of Dickens’ own live renditions of his work.

 

Hennegan’s production for Theatre Tours International and Maverick Theatre Company is no piece of ornate Victoriana. Masterson embodies Dickens’ bustling world with gravitas and grit, using little more than a wooden chair and an old grey raincoat hanging from the rafters. Once he puts the latter on, it gives his  performance a swish, a swoop and a sweep that are captured like rapid fire snapshots in the moody lighting that accompanies it. 

 

Masterson moves from narrator to the Dickens universe of characters with the aid of microphone effects and some nuanced physicality. This sees him flit from the humble but happy Bob Cratchit and his wide-eyed youngest son Tiny Tim to assorted ghostly revelations with ease as Robb Williams’ brooding panoramic score drives things.

 

At the story’s heart, of course, is Ebenezer Scrooge, the unhappy miser who is his own worst nightmare before the midnight wake-up call when all his Christmases coming at once causes him to become a friendly neighbourhood philanthropist. Masterson plays Scrooge, not as some crotchety grotesque, but as a geezerish spiv whose exposure to the consequences of his darker side’s actions reveals his more vulnerable nature in a refreshingly multi-faceted portrayal.

 

Hearing Dickens’ tale return to its gloriously wordy roots is a treat, especially when delivered by Masterson with such relish. This show has been in his repertoire for a good few years now, but is so full of life it could be the first time he’s done it. It was an all too brief Edinburgh run for this latest tour, but with any luck it will be back next year. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without it.


The Herald, December 16th 2024

 

ends

 

 

 

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Billy Elliot The Musical

Edinburgh Playhouse Five stars A big National Coal Board sign looms large at the opening of Lee Hall and Elton John's decade-old musical stage version of Hall and director Stephen Daldry's hit turn of the century film. In a tale of one little boy's liberation as a dancer against the backdrop of the 1980s miners strike, however, the Durham Miners banner and the 'Save Our Community' sash held aloft matter more. It is this call to arms that forms the heart of Daldry's production, as Billy becomes a potty-mouthed beacon of hope in a situation where picket line, thin blue line and chorus line rub uneasily up against each other. Given such a context, there is bound to be some pretty grown-up stuff going on here, be it the institutionalised homophobia in Billy's village, the class war going on within it, or Billy's grieving for his dead mother that drives his every move. And, as so magnificently choreographed by Peter Darling, what moves they are. Watch...
Post a Comment
Read more

Myra Mcfadyen - An Obituary

Myra McFadyen – Actress   Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024   Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.”   For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...
1 comment
Read more

Losing Touch With My Mind - Psychedelia in Britain 1986-1990

DISC 1 1. THE STONE ROSES   -  Don’t Stop 2. SPACEMEN 3   -  Losing Touch With My Mind (Demo) 3. THE MODERN ART   -  Mind Train 4. 14 ICED BEARS   -  Mother Sleep 5. RED CHAIR FADEAWAY  -  Myra 6. BIFF BANG POW!   -  Five Minutes In The Life Of Greenwood Goulding 7. THE STAIRS  -  I Remember A Day 8. THE PRISONERS  -  In From The Cold 9. THE TELESCOPES   -  Everso 10. THE SEERS   -  Psych Out 11. MAGIC MUSHROOM BAND  -  You Can Be My L-S-D 12. THE HONEY SMUGGLERS  - Smokey Ice-Cream 13. THE MOONFLOWERS  -  We Dig Your Earth 14. THE SUGAR BATTLE   -  Colliding Minds 15. GOL GAPPAS   -  Albert Parker 16. PAUL ROLAND  -  In The Opium Den 17. THE THANES  -  Days Go Slowly By 18. THEE HYPNOTICS   -  Justice In Freedom (12" Version) ...
Post a Comment
Read more