An Edinburgh Christmas Carol is certainly event theatre with a good heart, it’s just a pity its not worn upon its sleeve.
📍The Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
📅 24 Nov to 31 Dec
💷 Standard £20, concessions available
🕖 2:00pm & 7:30pm
🕖 Running time (approx.): 2 hours 5 minutes (one interval)
🎬 Writer/ Director: Tony Cownie
🎬 Assistant Director Sam Hardie
🛠️ Designer Neil Murray
🩰 Movement Director Kally Lloyd-Jones
✂️ Puppet Director Edie Edmundson
✂️ Puppet Maker Simon Auton
🎂 5+
🎭 Captioned Sat 3 Dec, 2pm, Audio Described & Touch Tour Fri 9 Dec, 7pm and Sat 10 Dec, 2pm (Touch Tour timing TBC)
🎭 BSL Interpreted Wed 14 Dec 7pm, Relaxed Performance Thu 15 Dec 7pm
Published in 1843, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has enjoyed, and endured, more adaptations than an elderly miser could ever shake a stick at. That it took until the 21st century for a peculiarly Edinburgh themed rendition to emerge is likely something of a Christmas miracle in itself (depending on how you view these things.)
First staged in 2019, Tony Cowie’s An Edinburgh Christmas Carol does precisely what it says on the promo-graphics, scooping Scrooge, Marley, Cratchits and all, from their London homes to deposit them in auld Edinburgh. Of course in the mid 19th century, Christmas was still effectively banned in Scotland, a product of the Reformation. It would only become a bank holiday for the Scots in 1871. ‘Bah Humbug’ could have been the Church of Scotland’s seasonal jingle.
Now, there may be in the world, those who don’t know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol, but most are likely far too young to read theatre reviews — and for the rest, there’s Wikipedia. Particular to this production however, Edinburgh-ification is writ across near every part of the narrative, from the delightful image of the Castle in the background, through scene scetting in the Canongate, and even the names of the three ghosts of Christmas. Gone are Past, Present, and Future, in favour of Lang Syne, Nouadays, and Ayont. The redoubtable Tiny Tim even has a Scottish friend, one Greyfriar’s Bobby. Yes, in Cowie’s Christmas Carol, Scrooge is specifically responsible for evicting Auld Jock, Bobby’s owner, and thus ushering in his death.
This is a show which works its cast hard, with only Ebeezer (Crawford Logan) and Accordionist Christina Bain left to play only one role. Steven McNicoll and Charlie West likely share the MVP award, playing 9 roles between them, and with never a sign of flagging energies.
The show is a great deal of fun, from portraying Nouadays as a quasi-Santa figure, to clothing Lang Syne as ‘The Green Lady’ — possibly a reference to the ghost of a Morningside murder victim. Edie Edmundson’s puppetry certainly offers much merriment in both dog, and boy form; and introducing a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-worthy dog catcher, certainly ups the stakes.
What the show lacks, however, is emotional weight. Though it hits all the beats, from Scrooge’s lost loves, to visions of Tiny Tim’s demise, one never really feels Scrooge’s building regret. Indeed, his ultimate redemption appears only a means to avoid an un-mourned death. Ebeneezer’s cold heart first has to break before an audience can be expected to care for its repair. It’s that rarest of things, a show with just a little too much pace.
The cast, however, are certainly to be commended for committed performances across the board, and the show certainly has the feel of a luxuriously crafted festive treat down to summoning snow to fall upon the seated audience. An Edinburgh Christmas Carol is certainly event theatre with a good heart, it’s just a pity its not worn upon its sleeve.
(Photography Credits: Mihaela Bodlovic & Lyceum Theatre Twitter feed)
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