Adolygiadau Arddechog!

16 Rha 2009

The Guardian

The Sherman's festive shows are always a treat, but Gary Owen's new version of A Christmas Carol is an impressive adaptation for our times. Best of all, the modern touches – references to MPs' expenses, hedge funds and the war in Afghanistan – are subtly done in a production that streamlines and updates the original for a younger audience while keeping its moral core intact.

This is a rousing family show, with belly laughs and cheering songs, yet it also presents the dark side of Dickens's tale with tremendous boldness. The depiction of Christmas Future, in which feral children terrorise a house-bound Scrooge, is bleak enough to make us all want to mend our ways.

Owen doesn't linger over evidence of Scrooge's miserly, wicked behaviour, opting instead to focus on what brutalised him. The workhouse, a terrifying black mill in Patrick Burnier's stark design, is always quite literally in the background. Director Amy Hodge has, in Mark Frost, opted for a younger Scrooge and this works: he is portrayed as a single-minded, workaholic entrepreneur, the kind who makes the decisions on Dragons' Den.

The ghosts are a mix of spectral forms and beasts, from sci-fi nightmares to Simon Nehan's majestically camp performance as Christmas Present, who was played somewhere between an annoying Big Brother contestant and a drag version of Gavin and Stacey's Nessa. There are lots of contemporary references and echoes – the interval is playfully handled like the dramatic hook at the end of a soap opera – but the production, which is boisterous and thoughtful in equal measure, retains a Victorian sternness. Some adaptations ditch this, and others are hemmed in by it; this hugely likable show is confident enough to work with that, and meld it with our world.

Elisabeth Mahoney

The Stage

In a set dominated by the treadmills of Victorian prisons and the inhumane conditions of workhouse, this loosely-based adaptation of Dickens’ morality tale packs a real punch. A product of the system, Scrooge is no miserable miser, but a ruthless moneylender who delights in sending defaulters to prison. Money is his god, greed his watchword - resonances in a world of bankers’ bonuses and politicians’ expenses. He cares for no one. Kindness and Christmas spirit are humbug. But he reckons without seven-year-dead Marley and three ghostly visitors. Amy Hodge directs with sure touch, eschewing the sentimental, but never losing sight of the feel-good factor. The pace is admirable, the spectres projected with imagination, the songs by Adrienne Quartly seamlessly introduced. The cast of eight encompass the parade of characters with fine ensemble playing. As Scrooge, Mark Frost powrfully portrays a vigorous businessman, proud of his sharp practices and his success in a competitive society. Simon Nehan gives tremendous lift to the all-round entertainment as a transvestite Ghost of Christmas Present, out front panto style, topical and very Welsh. A palpable hit. The striking sets are by Patrick Burnier, the music director is Michael Cryne.

Jon Holliday