Review: Christmas Carol Goes Wrong – Apollo Theatre, London

Dickens has been done to death, but never quite like this. In a special Christmas adaptation of their celebrated slapstick style, Mischief Theatre create a wonderfully fun show that will easily entertain even if it doesn’t quite stick some landings. So writes Harry Conway for theQR.co.uk…

Mischief in the theatre

Things start quite low-key with a series of terrible amateur actors auditioning for a local production of ‘A Christmas Carol’, with most of those auditioning being already established walking disasters from previous ‘Goes Wrong’ shows. While there’s some risk of missing out on references if one lacks this background knowledge, the primary traits of each woefully inept performer are easily laid out, and the natural comedy that arises from their interactions buzzes along nicely – all are obviously unfit to perform yet are all cast anyway because they’re the only ones who show up.

From this measured beginning, things move on to the disastrous performance itself, which features some quite fun stagecraft all the way through. The set falls apart, actors are incapacitated, props lost; it’s expected and entertaining stuff all done very well, but with little being mind-blowing (except for the terrifying twist the show takes on poor Tiny Tim). It’s an impressive variety of tricks and gags that keep the pace ripping along well, slapstick comedy that, for most of the runtime, is finding new and inventive ways to generate laughs.

Fun but sometimes thin

Where things are a bit more mixed are the characters themselves. Although the amateur players and their personality quirks and rivalries are set up quite well, and the tensions therein fuel much of the humour during the play, how things all wrap up is quite rushed. There’s an intelligent effort to have the play within the play reflect what’s going on with the characters outside of it, but it’s all paper-thin and resolves for the sake of resolving rather than anything else, despite all the time spent crafting their individual personalities.

The ups and downs they’re all meant to have gone through with each other feel pushed aside for the sake of yet more gags, robbing most of the character development that the show seems to have desired for them by the time everything concludes with a wholesome Christmasy ending. Regardless, even if it doesn’t reach the heights it sets for itself, this is a high-quality West End show that offers plenty of creative entertainment for the entry.

Featured Image: CCGW_Daniel_Fraser – Credit – Mark Senior

Mischief Theatre’s Christmas Carol Gone Wrong will play at the Apollo Theatre, London, until January 26th 2026. For tickets and more information, click here.