A Christmas Carol

As a former pharmacist employed in the retail sector I have to admit that I probably appeared rather like Ebenezer Scrooge to my own children and family. Whilst they all looked forward to putting up the Christmas tree, going shopping for presents, and meeting up for parties and carol concerts, December at work for me simply got busier and busier and busier right up until Christmas Eve. We were expected to dispense what seemed like an entire month's worth of repeat prescriptions in the space of two weeks, as well as recommending seemingly endless bottles of cough syrup and packets of throat lozenges. Who decided that the middle of the cough and cold season was the appropriate time to bring entire families together under one roof for a week-long holiday? Bah humbug!
 
Luckily that is now all behind me and I now look forward to the Christmas festivities as a redeemed and reformed character. And Christmas began for me last night upstairs at Biddy's Tea Rooms in Norwich with this year's opening performance of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol from Norfolk theatre company The Keeper's Daughter.
 
An imaginative sixty minute show created around Dickens' iconic 1843 work, Mark Finbow's production contains much of  the original prose, and therefore preserves all the essential flavours and character. It is Finbow himself that resurrects the character of Ebenezer Scrooge, a role that he approaches with a mischievous mixture of pathos, humour and undeniable pleasure. Every other character, from Bob Cratchit to the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future, is either portrayed by the gallant Helen Vine, or by her cuddly collection of props, and she rises to the challenge with aplomb and seemingly undentable enthusiasm.
 
In the packed upstairs tea-room, with its exposed wooden beams and quirky boho-chic interior, the double act of Finbow and Vine engage at close quarters with the audience, commanding their undivided attention throughout. This is not quite pantomime, and certainly not slapstick, but the evening does possess a 'fringe' like feel – there is an intimate sense of anticipation and involvement that draws one in, revelling in Scrooge's nastiness, yet sensing genuine empathy for Bob Cratchit and poor Tiny Tim. We share in the warmth of Scrooge's eventual redemption, and rejoice in the Cratchits' resultant Yuletide feast. There is even room for an occasional topical gag on Brexit or climate change to be lobbed in without distracting from the Victorian authenticity.
 
If you are looking for an entertaining piece of live theatre to kick-start your Yuletide shenanigans then look no further than The Keeper's Daughter's version of this seasonal Dickens classic. It may skip some of the gravitas embodied in the 19thcentury novella, where the twin evils of business greed and abject social poverty were highlighted, but the messages are still in there, and are still relevant. They certainly provide the food for thought as you enjoy your glass of mulled apple juice and mince pie afterwards.
 
The Keeper's Daughter production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol will be performed at Biddy's Tea Room in Norwich between December 10thand 20th. There will also be Sunday performances on the afternoons of December 16thand 23rdat Biddy's Kitchen in Aylsham (which is ground floor, and therefore wheelchair accessible).  Book tickets for either venue at  www.thekeepersdaughter.org.uk