Theatre / Reviews
Review: A Christmas Carol, Tobacco Factory Theatres – ‘Inventive, hilarious, and irresistible’
Charles Dickens wrote that “there is nothing so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour”, and although Living Spit‘s adaptation of his creation may have surprised him, he would certainly be delighted to see that sentiment endure.
Living Spit in the guise of original member Stu McLaughlin and erstwhile director Craig Edwards transform the classic tale while retaining all its essential festive factors. We still have three spirits brought by a chain-bearing Marley, flashbacks to the past and to the future and the morality tale involving his ill-treated clerk Bob Cratchit. And then we get the Living Spit treatment.
One way in which Scrooge abuses Bob is by limiting how many sheets of toilet paper he may use. Tiny Tim and the rest of the impoverished, downtrodden family comprise small woolly toys, excitedly looking forward to their Christmas dinner of hoover dust and a dead spider.
However, the main distinction is that the story is reflected in the light shone by the comic genius of the southwest’s favourite funny men. Stu appears as an earnest, ever so keen to please chugger representing, of all things, a charity called ‘Bum Kids’, aiming to relieve the poverty of street children. Edwards’ Scrooge has none of it. “Are there no crack dens to go to?” he asks.
A gamut of hilarious characters follows, including a spaced-out ballerina named Sharon as the Ghost of Christmas Past and an over-joyous Christmas present laughing hysterically at his own Christmas cracker jokes while dressed as, well, a Christmas present.
The Fezziwig Christmas party is relived as a works do, all filmed in the Clevedon theatre shop with the modern paraphernalia of office romance, dodgy dancing and photocopying of private parts.
Before we meet the scariest spirit of all, we enjoy a series of brilliantly inventive comic songs, running gags featuring humbugs, and a superbly synchronised video emerging from Scrooge’s own TV set between snatches of snooker.
The timing is immaculate, not least for the jokes and putdowns, but also how live action is interspersed with the film running in the background. This enables Edwards to appear in other characters, and also as himself watching his past and future self. As in the original, we can almost hear the penny drop when he realises the errors of his ways.
The audience are invited to stand and sing the words of an incredibly rude song while we watch Scrooge’s foretold funeral, where he is destined to be welcomed into the afterlife as “Satan’s joy toy”.
The show is dedicated to the late Howard Coggins and the affection for the whole troupe is evident by applause breaking out at the end when Coggins’ face appears on the TV screen credits.
The show is a reprise of a former production and long may it reappear on the festive calendar. Living Spit is an institution just as much as Dickens’ work, and, like the story itself, they know how to keep Christmas well.
Although most tickets for this show have now sold out, give yourself an early Christmas present and look out for future Living Spit performances.
A Christmas Carol is at Tobacco Factory Theatres from December 9-January 5 at 7.30pm, with some additional 2.30pm matinee shows. Tickets are available at www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com.
All photos: Living Spit
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