Assembly
and Riverside Studios at the Arts Theatre
05.12.2012
It's
beginning
to
feel
a
lot
like
Christmas
… A
couple
of
inches
of
sparkly
snow
this
morning,
and
then
Simon
Callow's
masterly
telling
of
that
most
seasonal
of
tales,
Dickens'
A
Christmas
Carol.
Hardly
a
dramatization,
with
the
various
voices
mostly
just
hinted
at,
and
nothing
like
the
author's
own
readings:
no
desk,
no
prompt
copy
with
gestures
and
vocalizations
noted
in
the
margin.
But
a
compelling
narration,
subtly
staged
in
Tom
Cairns'
atmospheric
production.
We
enter
to
see
the
seven
assorted
chairs
stacked
at
the
sides,
rather
incongruously
draped
in
fairy
lights.
There's
a
gauze,
snow
and
a
City
streetscape,
and
on
the
soundtrack,
an
appropriate
carol,
God
Rest
Ye
Merry
Gentlemen.
Callow,
in
overcoat
and
muffler,
begins
with
a
simply
delivered
prologue,
almost
conversational.
Only
on
"once
upon
a
time"
does
the
coat
come
off
and
we
get
down
to
business
in
Scrooge's
counting-house.
And
at
the
close,
the
envoi
and
the
epilogue,
he
carefully
stacks
chairs
and
fairy
lights
before
delivering
the
final
"God
bless
us,
every
one!".
The
effects
are
sparingly
deployed:
the
clock,
the
window,
the
bells,
the
firelight.
For
the
most
part
it's
down
to
Callow's
mellifluous
voice,
the
timbre
beautifully
tempered
to
convey
the
passion
and
the
sentiment
of
the
story.
Of
course,
there
is
a
deal
of
humour
too,
with
dancing
fingers
at
Fezziwig's
ball,
the
party
game
of
Yes
and
No,
featuring
a
roomful
of
eager
voices,
and
a
very
contemporary
"boy
in
Sunday
clothes"
near
the
end
– "Christmas
Day,
innit
?".
The
text
is
carefully
abridged
[Dickens
himself
used
a
similar,
much
shortened
version].
A
shame
to
eliminate
Mrs
Dilber,
but
these
eighty
minutes
did
include
a
generous
helping
of
the
author's
inventive
imagery,
as
well
as
the
essential
elements
of
the
supernatural
and
savage
satire.
A
century
and
a
half
later,
Dickens'
city
is
still
haunted
by
Ignorance
and
Want,
Christmas
is
still
"a
time
for
paying
bills
without
money"
and
the
world
is
not
yet
free
of
"guilty
governments".
Callow's
quietly
commanding
presence,
working
its
magic
on
our
imaginary
forces,
the
beautifully
judged
staging,
and
Dickens's
timeless
fable,
make
for
a
genuinely
moving
seasonal
experience,
an
organic
antidote
to
the
strident
tinsel
of
London's
Christmas.
this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment