A Christmas Carol - Leeds Playhouse ★★★★★

Unapologetically and vividly set in Yorkshire, this version of A Christmas Carol by Deborah McAndrew is true to the original whilst giving it some proper local colour.

The show’s massive preset is Dickensian at its core. A huge clock dominates the stage, and in front of it are the scaffolds of Victorian industry. A whistle-stop tour of iconic locations – the workhouse, a coal mine and the suffocating mills – confirms the era, as does the full cast’s hauntingly beautiful singing, in a minor key, of In the Bleak Midwinter.

Amy Leach has directed a brilliantly diverse and talented multi-rolling cast which fills the large stage with colour and light from the outset and throughout – a cast clearly revelling in every bit of the festive cheer.

A Northern Scrooge (Reece Dinsdale) is now the owner of a mill, whilst poor Bob Cratchit is still his bookkeeper, and their relationship is perfectly drawn. He is appropriately harsh and miserly, and even in a county where coal is plentiful, there isn’t a spare lump for the fire. Cratchit is played by Stephen Collins, a deaf actor who signs his part as he speaks, and the rest of the cast, hearing or not, sign too. All, except Scrooge, immediately setting him apart.

As this well-loved story goes, Scrooge’s late partner, Jacob Marley, arrives first to warn him of the consequences of his cruelly tight-fisted ways. Played by Obioma Ugoala, who makes him huge and ebullient and contrasts beautifully with the first spirit he warns him of – Ghost of Christmas Past. Dressed in an illuminated white crinoline, Bea Glancy is charming and dainty as she takes him to revisit the sites of his misspent youth and squandered opportunities.

The second half starts gloriously with the Ghost of Christmas Present (Claudia Kariuki) dressed very nearly as a Christmas tree and surrounded by a retinue of dancing baubles! A show-stopping moment which elicits great whoops of joy. This is closely followed by scenes from a party at Fred’s, Scrooge’s nephew, which is filled with chattering and cheerful party guests. It would take a heart much colder than Ebeneezer’s to reject the love of Christmas found here.

Poignant vignettes are liberally littered throughout the piece which tug at the heartstrings: glimpses of frozen farmers battling through winter or the miners in the darkness enhance the Yorkshire setting and evoke an unsentimental nostalgia. The ensemble, who are also on-stage musicians, play and sing their way through John Biddle’s seriously special seasonal score: it’s not easy to keep back the tears as a trumpet recalls Northern brass bands.

Hayley Grindle has created a wonderful set which effortlessly creates the mill, the mines, the parties and Bob Cratchit’s poor house. It is a very touching scene as that family celebrates their humble Christmas as Mrs Cratchit (Nadia Nadarajah) effuses both profound love for her family and enormous resentment for her husband’s cruel master. Grindle’s costume design, too, elevates this to the extraordinary – the charity-seeking ladies, the ghosts, the delightful Fezziwiggs and the party guests all light up the stage in her stunning designs – not forgetting the hugely charming reindeer!

The Ghost of Christmases yet to come emerges ominously, like a dementor, from the depths of the stage and voicelessly warns Scrooge of the inevitable consequences of his cruel ways. There are some eerie moments, but the warmth of this production ensures, of course, that compassion and love overwhelm evil in the end.

A glorious romp of a production which, at just under two hours, makes it a perfect parcel of family-friendly festivity.