Viva Lewes Issue #159 December 2019

ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE
Delving into Dickens
A fresh staging of A Christmas Carol
Photo by Tony Bannister
It’s 1843. The last few years
have seen Charles Dickens
earn a reputation as one of
England’s greatest storytellers.
Yet he’s not happy. All
around him is injustice and
suffering, with the children
of poor families often sent
out to work in dreadful
conditions. In addition,
there’s no guarantee of
education for the children
who don’t work. And he
can see financial problems
of his own on the horizon.
Dickens plans to write a pamphlet to express his
views... but then changes his mind. Instead he’ll
craft a piece of fiction; a work that’ll influence
public opinion and, hopefully, earn him some
money. Around six weeks later, A Christmas Carol
is finished: a fantasy in which the burgeoning
traditions of a Victorian Christmas are linked
with goodwill to all.
Fast forward to December 2019, where Darren
Heather (pictured right) is directing an adaptation
of the tale at Lewes Little Theatre. “We are
very much following the traditional line of the
story”, he tells me. However, they’ve made a few
minor changes to the play, which was created
a few years ago by Gary Andrews (left). “We’re
trying to approach it from the social injustice
aspect. It will start off relatively dark and get
lighter, with Scrooge’s reformation at the end.
It’s still a piece of entertainment, not a lecture.”
Why, I ask, is Darren keen to emphasise this
particular aspect of the story? “I think it’s a fairly
topical thing. We have so many people relying
on food banks to just live
normally. It’s not quite the
same as workhouses but it is
a modern version of that.”
Darren’s changes to the script
have been welcomed by the
playwright. “Gary’s been
absolutely fantastic, he’s been
so supportive.” In fact, he’s
even got a role in the show.
“I decided fairly early on that
Dickens would be a good
addition as a character.” As
Gary has previously played
Charles Dickens in a oneman
show, he was an obvious choice. “It’s been a
very good collaboration so far – and it’s fantastic
to have him physically in the show.”
But there’s more to this presentation than physical
appearances. “We’re going to be using a lot
of technology and a lot of good lighting effects
to tell the story as well.” A number of the scenes
will feature back-projected skylines of London,
whilst some of the ghosts manifest themselves in
video form before coming to life. Alongside the
high-tech drama, there’s an original music score.
Ultimately, Darren explains, this is a story about
redemption. “The young Ebenezer was a lovely
child but something went wrong along the way
to make him what he became. I guess, at the start
of the story, he’s an isolationist. He’s very insular,
very much looking inward, fearing the world,
fearing everything; then he realises he has to
engage with the world to get something out of
it.” Mark Bridge
Lewes Little Theatre from 8th until 14th.
lewestheatre.org
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