A Christmas cracker in wet February is a fabulous way to have some after festive fun.
Be warned, this production is a belter of daft jokes, silly skirmishes and even a wee bit of hilarious audience interaction.
But it’s absolutely bob on and a fabulous cheer up. The lucky audience members at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh’s opening night were definitely in the mood for some fun.
And Mischief Theatre did not disappoint. As the show’s not so subtle title says, it’s a show which has cleverly taken a Charles Dickens classic and turned the story into a modern riot.
From the fabulous actors to the cracking stage, the production hits the button from the very start. The audience is introduced to the Cornley Polytechnic Players auditioning for their forthcoming version of The Christmas Carol under the directorship of the ever weary Chris Bean (Daniel Fraser).
Sadly, for Bean, the would be actors are not the best and mayhem and mischief arises. Bean wants it to be professional and produce a good show, but his cast have other ideas.
There is huge rivalry between Bean and bombastic actor Robert (Henry Lewis) who has a strange obsession of nude theatre, and he does his best to sabotage the show throughout, to show Bean he is the top dog.
Then there’s the ever cute Dennis (Jonathan Sayer) who thinks he is auditioning for the role of “Frog Crachit” after mixing up the classic with The Muppets version of Christmas Carol.
The silly routines are topped by the show’s ghosts, with Lewis as Robert, a diamond playing the Ghost of Christmas Present, wearing a giant gift-wrapped box and Annie (Nancy Zamit) is limbs everywhere as the Ghost of Christmas Future with a bit of Scottish banter thrown in for the locals.
The show cleverly brings in other Mischief productions, with Greg Tannahill as Jonathan given a wee in-joke about his last leading role in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which has given him such a fear of heights that he can’t hit the high notes.
Matt Cavendish (Max) is a whizz as he plays five characters on his own in a fast moving set piece and Chris Leask as Trevor and Ashley Tucker (Sandra) helps make the show even more fun and frustrating.
The story is so cleverly written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and is helped enormously by the brilliant set from Libby Todd, with the hilarious replacements of traditional stage to a packet of Maltesers and a pink girlie kitchen, the icing on the cake.
From start to finish, the Dicken’s classic is turned upside down, none more so than when Tiny Tim is transformed into a massive monster and Scrooge becomes even more bitter at the end of the tale.
Director Matt DiCarlo has the comic timing, humour and general daftness spot on. It’s a glitzy tinsel topper not to be missed.
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh until Sunday, 15th February, then moves to the King’s Theatre, Glasgow from 17th to 22nd February and rounds off at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury from 24th February to 1st March 2026. For ticket information and performance details, please visit: www.capitaltheatres.com and www.mischiefcomedy.com.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photographs courtesy of Mark Senior
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