Spirited performance of ghostly tale (From Swindon Advertiser)

Spirited performance of ghostly tale

3:42pm Friday 16th December 2011 in Reviews

A Christmas Carol,

by Old Town Theatre Company,

Swindon Arts Centre, Old Town.

Last performance Saturday December 17.

A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens in the early 1840s. It is said it took him six weeks to write and was adapted for the stage a short while afterwards.

I can guarantee that Old Town Theatre Company took a little longer from inception rehearsals to first night.

This production, adapted by John Mortimer and directed by Paul Blonden, kept true to the original story. However, the modernisation of costume and some settings did not.

Not having seen this script I don’t know if this was due to the adaptation or whether it was the brain child of the director.

OTTC can be relied upon to give us a different take on the norm, but in this case I’m not sure it worked for me.

Modern dress and large, strange makeup markings on the actors’ faces confused not only me but several other audience members.

The play delivered Dickensian language, which is why I felt the modernisation didn’t entirely work.

This company has excellent leading actors – that is not in question. Pete Hynds played a superb Scrooge.

But I felt the first few minutes were quite slow until the introduction of Marley, played eerily by Paul Dawkins as his chains scraped and rattled across the stage.

The first two spirits played their roles well and the entrance and costume of the Spirit of the Future was certainly something to enthuse about.

The cast all gave their best, including some lovely moments from the children in the production.

OTTC is a thought-provoking amateur company – even if opinion is divided.

– Ros Hollands