For many of us, “A Christmas Carol” will forever mean the legendary adaptation featuring The Muppets and Michael Caine – so much so that it came as quite a shock to me, in later life, to learn that Scrooge’s first boss was actually called Fezziwig and not Fozziwig.

This does however present any other adaptation of Dickens’ classic novella with the very difficult challenge of standing out from Brian Henson’s masterpiece – and with social distancing precluding a crowded stage, how does The Watermill Theatre’s offering compare against its star-studded forerunner?

Well, if “The Muppets Christmas Carol” is the Saturday Night version of the story – filled with big musical numbers and side-gags – this is more in tune with the kind of Sunday Night shows TV was so good at airing in the 1980s (see: The Box Of Delights and the Narnia adaptations): intimate, atmospheric, and affecting.

 From the moment you step into the theatre, the background soundscape transports you to Victorian London – carts trundling over cobblestones, children playing in the street – while the set itself, filled with lines of washing and shadowy grey stone walls, does a far better job than any other adaptation of conveying the poverty Dickens was so keen to make his readers care about.

 This sense of destitution extends to the creative use of props and lighting to conjure the cast of characters into existence – a shroud and lantern becoming the ghost of Christmas Past; the uplit shadow of an actor forming the giant Ghost of Christmas Present – which has the ring of parents desperately breaking out toilet roll tubes and glue to fashion a makeshift likeness of popular toys that can’t be found for love nor money in the shops, and giving their children a damn fine Christmas nonetheless.

 No amount of props and lighting would work if the actors at the centre of them weren’t immensely talented, however – especially when up against Michael Caine, and especially when you’re not allowed to have more than two on stage.

 Tilly-Mae Millbrook in particular has her work cut out as not only the Narrator but also the majority of the other characters. I never thought I’d say this, but she easily surpasses The Great Gonzo’s version of Charles Dickens. Captivating, passionate and engaging, she makes you remember that Dickens wrote this story from a deeply-felt sympathy for the less fortunate and a real desire to stir people into action. There can be no greater compliment for an actor or actress than the fact that they can take words you’ve heard a thousand times before and make you feel as if you’re hearing them for the first time, and Millbrook does so throughout.

 Pete Ashmore’s Scrooge is also a departure from the past, presenting not a curmudgeonly older man but a fellow still in the (vinegary) vigour of his youth. Both his age and his strident performance make for a very refreshing change – here we see the dynamism of someone whose beliefs and business practices (here not a million miles away from Brighthouse or Pay Day Loans) will continue unabated for decades yet to come, which makes him all the more horrifying. 

 But in both Ashmore’s nuanced delivery, and Danielle Pearson’s adaptation, we come to see a far more complex man than the classic villain of other adaptations. This version of Scrooge explores facets usually left to the shadows – visions of the life he lost along with Belle, and the rationale behind his business practices. Having grown up with poverty and loss, and with the shadows of his capitalist teachers quite literally looming over him, is it really so mystifying that he’d turn to moneylending to escape the destitution surrounding the audience? And would the rest of us act any differently, despite the keenly-felt loss of loved ones? 

 These are questions for the audience to ponder, and I urge you to go see this before the run ends on the 3^rd January. While The Muppets produced an adaptation filled with frothy fun, this is far closer to the transformative, life-affirming and loving story that Dickins wrote – encapsulated in the fact that by the end, Scrooge is less concerned with sponging his name from the grave than in saving Tiny Tim’s life.

 Indeed, if one mark of a good play is its ability to make you consider the world around you differently, this one is guaranteed to melt away any seasonal cynicism and leave you smiling…

 …so much so that I almost felt bad for shushing the man two rows in front of me who was loudly unwrapping his toffees during the performance (an act that should surely be punishable by imprisonment).

 “A Christmas Carol” is directed by Georgie Staight; tickets can be booked at https://www.watermill.org.uk/the_watermill_theatre_a_christmas_carol#home-ttab

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