Four festive treats still running in January
A Christmas Carol Old Vic,
London SE1 You might think the charm of Matthew Warchus’s production (back for the third Christmas running) would be wearing off by now, says Claire Allfree in The Daily Telegraph. “Well, bah humbug to that.” The production’s mix of “Dickensian moralising and theatrical enchantment” is still enough to soothe the “most crotchety of souls”. The “lovebombing of festive cheer in the second act” – handbells, a zipwire turkey, parachuting Brussel sprouts, and oodles of fake snow – remains irresistible. And Paterson Joseph is “for my money the most satisfying Scrooge to date”. Runs until 18 January (0344-871 7628). Other well-reviewed stagings of A Christmas Carol can be seen at Bristol Old Vic until 12 January, and The Lyceum, Edinburgh until 4 January.
The Prince and The Pauper New Vic Theatre, Newcastle
under-Lyme Mark Twain’s 1881 children’s novel hasn’t so much been adapted by director Theresa Heskins as “plundered”, in a superb production full of “music, wit and spectacle”, says Mark Fisher in The Guardian. In the dying days of the reign of Henry VIII, the young Prince Edward happens upon an impoverished commoner who looks just like him. Each envies the other, and they decide to swap places. Heskins’s brilliant idea is to present the story as if staged by a troupe of itinerant players. The action
is jollied along by a “rousing score” from James Atherton; and the casting of twin sisters Danielle and Nichole Bird in the lead roles is inspired. “Energised, driven and playful, they are a joy to watch.” Runs until 25 January (01782-717962). The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Bridge Theatre, London SE1 “Whizzy adaptations of cherished classics sometimes make me harrumph,” says Quentin Letts in The Sunday Times: they can be off-puttingly arrogant when they warp the original text or impose new ideas on it. Not this one! I was swept away by Sally Cookson’s “colourful, accessible production and dazzled afresh by the great Christian allegory of C.S. Lewis’s story”. Rejoice! Runs until 2 February (0333-320 0051).
Gypsy Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester This lavish and “intoxicating” production feels like a “coup” for the Royal Exchange, says Matt Barton on What’s On Stage. As if the grand pedigree of this Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents musical weren’t enough, they’ve secured the international musical star Ria Jones. She excels as Momma Rose in a cast “who soar higher as the evening progresses, while the grandeur of the production design” – with exquisite sets and lavish costumes – richly realises the period, and has “the scale of an epic event”. Runs until 1 February (0161-833 9833).