It’s the most topical show – BAH none!
ADRIAN EDMONDSON IS SCROOGE IN THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
IN what ways would you say A Christmas Carol is still relevant to people today?
A Christmas Carol in an extraordinary book. It’s been in print continuously since 1843 so it must be saying something very important that catches our imagination. A lot of people think it’s about Scrooge and ghosts, which of course it is, but at the heart of it, it’s about poverty and our individual reaction to it. So it couldn’t be more relevant today than it has been in the last 30-40 years. Not since rationing really – actual poverty in our streets, people at food banks. That’s the driving force of it for Dickens – he’d read a report on poverty and was considering writing this as a dry pamphlet, but wrote it as a story because he thought it would connect more. And, of course, it does. So it’s hard to find a play that’s more relevant, especially one you might enjoy.
You’ve seen this production, adapted by David Edgar, when the RSC first presented it in 2017. What did you make of David’s version?
When A Christmas Carol was on for the first time at the RSC, I was doing Twelfth Night in rep with it, and I actually shared a dressing room with Phil Davies (who played Scrooge in 2017) even though we were never in it at the same time. I got to know David quite well because we were in the rehearsal rooms and theatre together and we had quite a lot of chats about A Christmas Carol.
David’s obviously a left-wing playwright and has decided to accentuate the more left-wing elements – some of the ‘pamphlet’ elements in it, which I think makes it sound dry, makes it sound like you’re going to watch something that’s statistical and about government, which we all know is boring. But they are as much a driver of the comedy and the spookiness and the joy, so the show is anything but dry and boring.
Everyone thinks of Scrooge as being a miserable character – but they forget that when he redeems himself at the end he becomes the most joyful person in the world. He’s always had that in him. Everyone’s got it in them to be that.
I believe some of your grandchildren are going to see it?
I’ve got grandchildren who are 10, eight. six, two and one. I think the two younger ones won’t get to see it but this is the first show I’ve been in that I’m going to bring the other three to, because I think they’ll really enjoy it. I think they’ll understand it. What will grab them is the supernatural, there’s a lot of magic, and I think they’ll get the joy. I think they’ll enjoy seeing evil turn to good. It’s the message in a lot of cartoons, it’s the general message of a lot of children’s literature, and I think they will enjoy seeing me doing something they didn’t know I did!
Scrooge is one of the most famous characters in literature. Tell us your thoughts about him.
He’s got an entry in the OED. To be Scrooge-like is to be mean spirited and anti social. Why would you watch a show about a really horrible person? You watch it because you’re cheering him, urging him to become a better person. You’re on his side, you want him to turn. Who wouldn’t want to see into their past, and their own future to see where they might end up if they carry on as they are? I think that makes him one of the most fundamentally interesting characters in literature and theatre.
What’s your earliest memory of A Christmas Carol and do you have a favourite version?
My earliest memory is The Muppet Show version – A Muppet Christmas Carol. The Muppets are very good at sentimentality. And there is sentimentality in it. People think it’s a dirty word, but if sentimentality comes from a real place, it’s very hard, but very satisfying to achieve. My favourite version of recent times is Simon Callow’s production. It’s him by himself, a bravura performance delivering it all.
Who wouldn’t want to see into their past, and their own future Adrian Edmondon