Christmas Carol Goes Wrong ★★★★

The award-winning Mischief theatre company has no shortage of accolades under its belt, from the long-running The Play That Goes Wrong to the more recent The Comedy About Spies. Their well-honed formula of going wrong keeps going right. In their latest stage production, Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, the Cornley Drama Society returns to perform the Charles Dickens’ classic tale.

Originally conceived as an hour-long television special, the stage version benefits from the addition of a wraparound narrative. The audience first encounters pompous director, actor and self-confessed dramaturg Chris Bean (Daniel Fraser) holding auditions for the upcoming performance. Cue some marvellous (and hilarious) “mouth acting” by Sandra (Sasha Frost), a Frog Cratchit impression by Dennis (Jonathan Sayer), and Jonathan’s (Greg Tannahill) lingering trauma-induced fear of heights, a knowing nod to Peter Pan Goes Wrong. The ongoing tussle between Chris and Robert Grove (Henry Lewis) over the casting of Scrooge will be recognisable to Mischief fans, but like a Christmas cracker joke, you know what’s coming, but it makes you laugh anyway.

The play unfolds with a production meeting, a chaotic rehearsal, and a mix-up with the model box before we enter the world of Ebenezer Scrooge. Libby Todd‘s set design is masterfully crafted to assist with every mishap and technical catastrophe. The incongruous additions of a giant Malteser box and a Barbie kitchen in Victorian London are absurdly comical, as is the monstrous colossal ventriloquist’s dummy in the role of Tiny Tim.

The physical comedy of Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is meticulously executed under Matt DiCarlo‘s assured direction. Stage manager Trevor Watson’s (Chris Leask) entanglement in Jacob Marley’s chains is frenzied and fraught as they become increasingly snarled up in each other and the furniture. His Ghost of Christmas Future is equally brilliantly farcical. Nancy Zamit (as Annie Twilloil) plays The Ghost of Christmas Past with gusto and sharp slapstick timing. Henry Lewis is magnificent as The Ghost of Christmas Present, literally a gift-wrapped box, revelling in melodrama and flamboyancy.

With this company, their shows are such a well-oiled machine, that the newer performers blend in seamlessly with the seasoned performers. Ocassional, a joke will miss the mark, but with the production being so fast-paced and clevely designed, that you will always be swept along with the momentum to the next big laugh. Christmas Carol Goes Wrong offers a witty festive fiasco, with this cracking crowd-pleaser is another Mischief success.