MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Culture: A Christmas Carol tuned in to today
Lurking beneath the festive jollity, the RSC's version of the Dickens classic is a salutary reminder of grim present realities, says GORDON PARSONS
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
A Christmas Carol
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
WITH the latest estimation that over 3.5 million children in Britain are living in poverty, Charles Dickens’s famous Christmas ghost story is a telling choice for the RSC’s seasonal show.
David Edgar’s sharply tweaked adaptation doesn’t need to labour contemporary parallels.
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