PATRICK MARMION: Expect ghosts galore from 2020’s bumper crop of Christmas Carols 

A Christmas Carol

(Old Vic, London; Bristol Old Vic; Dickens Museum, London; Polka Theatre, Watermill, Newbury)

Verdict: God bless them, every one!  

Can it be a coincidence that so many theatres are doing A Christmas Carol this year? I think not. 

I reckon it’s the spirit of Christmases Past, rising up to banish our 2020 blues.

How apt, then, that the biggest Carol, live-streamed from London’s Old Vic, features Andrew Lincoln — Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes from zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead.

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Lincoln, who makes a very macho Ebenezer, must have been tempted to turn a pump-action shotgun on the ghosts who keep interrupting his sleep.

Happily, he submits to Dickens’s seasonal message of peace and goodwill with a performance that would make a decent audition for King Lear.

He plumbs Ebenezer’s psychological depths; and his meanness is explained in Jack Thorne’s adaptation by the fact that he had a very nasty father.

Lincoln, who makes a very macho Ebenezer, must have been tempted to turn a pump-action shotgun on the ghosts who keep interrupting his sleep

Lincoln, who makes a very macho Ebenezer, must have been tempted to turn a pump-action shotgun on the ghosts who keep interrupting his sleep

Clive Rowe cuts a more traditional hearty figure as Mr Fezziwig, while John Dagleish is an honest-to-goodness Cockney as apprentice Bob Cratchit.

Matthew Warchus’s production with a (socially distanced) company of 15 is sometimes more than Zoom can handle. 

Spooky violins, a tinkling music box, chanting and bell ringing: at times it’s a bit much for an app designed for conference calls.

But with lanterns dotted around the darkened theatre, it’s never short on atmosphere.

(Until December 24, oldvictheatre.com, tickets from £40.)

Some may recognise John Hopkins as Sgt Dan Scott from Midsomer Murders, but in Bristol Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol he’s an unusually stentorian Scrooge. 

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The theatre is streaming last year’s show, which turns Dickens’s tale into a punk Victorian circus, emceed by a gruff Hopkins. 

Marley emerges through dry ice like Sid Vicious in a tattered greatcoat, and the Ghost of Christmas Past is a wafting bed sheet.

The cast freely engage with the audience in a wonderfully playful show. Sound quality is variable, but it made me long to summon Scrooge’s first ghost, to transport me back in time to join them. (Until February 28, bristololdvic.org.uk, £4.50+)

n IT’S all about atmosphere and language in the production adapted and performed by Dominic Gerrard at the Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury. 

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Gerrard clearly relishes sinking his teeth into lines like this description of Scrooge: ‘A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!’ 

Lit by a lantern, and wearing a cravat and Victorian jacket to narrate the tale alone, Gerrard also manipulates a life-size puppet of the old skinflint. 

It’s an extraordinarily dexterous performance, in which he breathes amazing life into the stiff, grey marionette.

But as he creeps about the house, the show also provides an after-hours tour of Dickens’s former home — cheerily adorned with seasonal decorations.

(December 20 and 31, Zoom with live Q&A to follow, dickensmuseum.com, £15.)

Perhaps the sweetest Carol comes from the Polka children’s theatre, who have produced a puppet version for tiny tots).

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Just 18 perfect minutes of make-believe, adapted and performed by Ian Nicholson, with homemade chains, candlesticks, London skyline and tombstone, inside a cardboard proscenium arch just big enough for the puppetmaster’s head and hands.

Perhaps the sweetest Carol comes from the Polka children's theatre, who have produced a puppet version for tiny tots)

Perhaps the sweetest Carol comes from the Polka children’s theatre, who have produced a puppet version for tiny tots)

Into this miniature world step the various ghosts — and there’s an amusing mix-up on the meaning of Christmas ‘present’, before we meet the very spooky Christmas Yet To Come . . . a shredded bin liner with googly eyes.

Nicholson throws himself into his performance as if all his Christmases have come at once. (December 19-27, polkatheatre.com, free, but donations are welcome) 

Is there a more atmospheric theatre in the country than Newbury’s Watermill? I suspect not, and it’s a perfect vessel for Dickens’s seasonal yarn.

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The stage is set as a brick dungeon, decorated with a washing line of underwear.

Otherwise, this production is as warm and comforting as a mug of cocoa, with Pete Ashmore and Tilly-Mae Millbrook improvising the whole story — while also taking charge of a violin, piano and clarinet.

He is a posh and assured Scrooge, a little too comfortable in his own breeches. She is a cheery narrator, gamely taking up all of the story’s other roles.

There are slightly hokey stage effects (an evil eye in a side window) and it’s perhaps best for families with younger children. 

But it’s a pleasantly intimate 75 minutes, with carols and festive songs woven evocatively between the scenes.

(Until January 3, £25+, watermill.org.uk)

 WHY PANTO LOONS SHOULD HEAD FOR PLYMOUTH

Robinson Crusoe

(Theatre Royal Plymouth)

Verdict: Panto-lite delight 

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Pantomimes may be thin on the ground this year, but Theatre Royal Plymouth has taken up the challenge of making a Covid-safe version. 

Sadly, that means no young ones called up on stage, screams of ‘It’s behind you!’ or audience singalong. 

Within these constrictions, Michael Harrison has devised this delightful panto-lite — 75 minutes of fast-paced storytelling, packed with songs and stage business.

Les Dennis leads the cast in the Dame role, as Robinson Crusoe's mother, Mavis (cue his impression of Mavis from Coronation Street)

Les Dennis leads the cast in the Dame role, as Robinson Crusoe’s mother, Mavis (cue his impression of Mavis from Coronation Street) 

Les Dennis leads the cast in the Dame role, as Robinson Crusoe’s mother, Mavis (cue his impression of Mavis from Coronation Street). 

Corrie star Connor McIntyre is his love interest, Captain Cockles; while panto stalwart Andy Ford is her other son, Billy.

It’s a winning combination, and Robinson Crusoe has lots of comedy (some that may require parental explanation), and the segment in which the trio have an increasingly saucy conversation about Billy’s love life (or lack of it) with the responses in song excerpts is particularly memorable.

In the title role is former Blue boy band star Simon Webbe, who swashes his buckle to rescue his sweetheart, Polly (Charlotte Haines), from the clutches of Jennie Dale’s jolly Pirate Queen. 

Our hero is helped in his endeavour by the Spirit of the Ocean (Emily Beth Harrington), and everyone gets to sail home safely, courtesy of the pirate crew, aka the Timbuktu Tumblers, an acrobatic group who literally jump through hoops to entertain us.

The show, directed by Jonathan Kiley, finishes on an emotional note as Miss Harrington leads the cast in singing ‘Finding Pantoland’, which talks about our joy at being back in that magical place. A hearty ‘Arrr!’ to that.

Until January 3, theatreroyal.com.