A Christmas Carol
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

A SPECTRE is haunting Sheffield this Christmas at the Crucible Theatre, with its heart-warming and uplifting production of Dickens’s perennial classic tale, exposing the social ills of capitalism.

Karl Marx was a fan of Dickens, so it’s probably more than a coincidence that both shared the use of ghost imagery to challenge the status quo, although Dickens advocated moral and social reform, while Marx advocated the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a classless society.

With today’s cost-of-living crisis, rising child poverty, increasing homelessness and attacks on benefits, there is more than a contemporary ring to Dickens’s excoriating critique of his times, and the parallels are not lost on Sheffield audiences with this production, which is both empathetic and yet shot through with hope.

It helps that Elin Schofield, the award-winning director who graduated from the University of Sheffield, has brought a local touch and feel to the story, which is helped by the inclusion of the Sheffield Carols.

Sheffield is where the tradition of exuberantly singing carols in pubs has been maintained. They are a mixture of the sacred and the secular, and 200 years ago the church considered the more earthier carols as unsuitable for Christian worship, so they had to find a new home. This local folk tradition has been woven seamlessly into this imaginative and creative retelling of the redemption of the miserly and curmudgeonly Scrooge, following the appearance of Marley’s Ghost, and the Three Spirits of Christmas (Past, Present and Yet to Come).

From the start of the performance Jack, energetically played by Mel Lowe, acts as a narrator of the story to a group of hungry poor street children, played by the talented younger members of the company. This paved the way for the bravura performance of an irascible and loathsome Scrooge by Ian Midlane, whose character’s eventual transformation evokes both humour and pathos.

The scene that stole the show was the Christmas Party at the Fezziwig home, as the Spirit of Christmas Past, played by Nitai Levi in a costume that resembled a miner, took Scrooge on a journey back to the time when he was a young apprentice to Mr Fezziwig, effervescently brought to life by Adam Price. The raucous singing of the Sheffield Carol “Six Jolly Miners” with its local references and working-class spirit brought the house down.

Congratulations must go to all who were involved in this engaging festive celebration of hope over adversity, the resilience of the human spirit, and the promise of change both in individuals and in society. The standing ovation at the end of the performance was well-deserved, and proves that live theatre still has the power to move hearts and minds. Definitely a Christmas treat not to be missed!

Runs until January 10. Box office (0114) 249-6000, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.