An enchanting and magical way to haunt your house

When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol back in 1843, he described it to his readers as a “ghostly little book”, which he hoped would “haunt their houses pleasantly”.

His wish certainly came true, with the classic tale becoming so well known that for many of us, Christmas simply isn’t Christmas until we’ve experienced it in one of its forms.

Taking on a tale as big as this one is a massive challenge for anyone. How do you go about putting your own unique spin on Dickens? However, if any theatre company could pull it off, it is the Dundee Rep. The show began by taking us into new Christmas Carol territory with Ann Louise Ross taking on the role as Mistress Ebenezer Scrooge.

The cantankerous character who only cares about riches works every bit as well as a woman than it does a man. Ross owns the role, providing us with a magnificent performance filled with both darkness and light.

As always, the most poignant part of the story is reserved for Bob Cratchit – played beautifully by Ewan Donald – and his poverty-stricken family.

He brings real warmth to the role and the children’s cast, which includes Oliver Mulholland as Tiny Tim, are equally as wonderful, bringing bucketfuls of warmth and festive cheer to the performance.

After seeing the story brought to life so many times on screen, you’d be forgiven for thinking this stage version may have lost some of its charm, but you’d be very wrong.

With a Dickens-esque set, flying beds, chain-shaking ghosts and a theatre filled with snow, I felt like I’d been transported back to Victorian times and was watching the story unfold in front of me.

Enchanting, spellbinding and downright magical, A Christmas Carol is the perfect mixture of new and old. May this stunning retelling, “haunt your house pleasantly” this year.