There are four variations of A Christmas Carol doing the festive rounds. We check them out...

BAH humbug! The streets of York are to play host to a new promenade version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol over five nights, starting tonight.

The perambulating two-hour production has been organised by Peter Wilson and Damian Freddi, who are part of the York Horror Tour that operates from the Black Swan Inn on Peasholme Green.

After watching the Guilds of York’s open-air production of the York Mystery Plays on wagons this summer, Peter and Damian realised the city streets were “a fantastic backdrop for a theatre presentation”.

“So we decided that for the Christmas period, rather than take people on our ordinary tour, they should be entertained with the Dickens classic,” says Peter.

“A Christmas Carol lends itself to York very well because, in the evening, certain parts of the city feel like Victorian London,” says Damian.

To help make their dream a reality, they enlisted actors from the York Dungeon, who have offered their support to this unusual and innovative event.

Rehearsals have been taking place at the Black Swan and costumes frantically made over the past few weeks.

“Everyone involved is so excited; the project is just so perfect for Christmas and we can’t wait to see the faces of the people watching,” says Peter. “We just know they’re going to be surprised and entertained by what we’re offering.”

Damian wrote the script with families in mind. “It really is perfect for everyone and should help put people in the festive mood. We’re having so much fun putting it together and I’m positive this will carry across when performing,” he says.

The Dickensian walk will set out from the Guy Fawkes Inn, in High Petergate, at 7pm tonight, tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets cost £8 for adults, £3 for children, but there is no need to book; just turn up.


* ACTOR and writer James Hyland’s one-man stage version of A Christmas Carol will be haunting Harrogate Theatre until Thursday.

Brother Wolf presents Hyland in A Christmas Carol – As Told By Jacob Marley (Deceased), a re-telling of Charles Dickens’s tale of renewed hope that will be performed in the Studio at 7pm nightly and 2pm tomorrow.

“Jacob Marley is dead and condemned to an eternity of carrying a heavy chain, forged in life; a life to which he can no longer return except to recount the tale of his miserly business partner, Ebenezer Scrooge, and the path that leads to his redemption,” says James.

“Through Marley’s words, we learn how three magical spirits opened Scrooge’s eyes and made him realise the true value of love and forgiveness.”

Hyland is not only an award-winning actor and playwright, he is also a screenwriter, film editor, producer and director.

Tickets for his Harrogate show cost £12, with concessions available, on 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk


* YORK actor and storyteller Chris Cade will perform Scrooge, his 20-minute version of A Christmas Carol, in the Kirkgate street at York Castle Museum from tomorrow until Christmas Eve.

Performances will take place through the day as demand allows, but in principle Chris could start shows in the recreated Victorian street at 10am, 11am and noon each morning, and at 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm in the afternoon.

Chris, co-founder of the Platform 4 Theatre Company at the National Railway Museum, first performed Scrooge at Christmas At Temple Newsam, Leeds, in 2008 and then delivered the story five times a day for York Museums Trust’s Christmas At The Castle In Kirkgate for 12 days leading up to Christmas Eve last year.

The museum’s general admission charge will apply for Scrooge: £8, concessions £7, under-16s free.


* GREEN Hammerton company BadappleTheatre are taking A Yorkshire Christmas Carol on tour in their winter Theatre On Your Doorstep production.

Writer-director Kate Bramley and her itinerant band of actors put their Yorkshire comedy slant on Dickens’s Christmas story in performances at Kirkby Malzeard Mechanics Institute this evening; Green Hammerton Village Hall, tomorrow; Whitby Coliseum Theatre on Sunday; Bridlington Spotlight Theatre on Tuesday; and Leven Recreation Hall on Wednesday.

“Have a good chuckle while the blustering, skinflint farmer Ebeneezer Scrooge gets his comeuppance and is forced to see the error of his penny-pinching ways,” says Kate.

“Full of local stories and carols, puppets and mayhem, and new original songs by Jez Lowe, plus a whacking great dose of seasonal bonhomie, this is a winter warmer to put a smile on everyone’s face this Christmas.”

Jonny McPherson will play Scrooge and other roles besides, while David Hey will be Bob Cratchit et al in this “classic and comic tale with a Yorkshire twist”.

The show is suitable for ages five to 95 and tickets can be booked on 01423 339168 or office@badappletheatre.com.