Dundee's Carol

Dundee Rep’s production of A Christmas Carol looks set to be a family treat fitting the yuletide tradition we expect from the annual outing of this classic tale. Directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director James Brining, the award winning ensemble take us on a festive evening of deliverance and jubilation. Playwright Neil Duffield has adapted Dickens’ original, tailoring the language to make his version more accessible for younger children without losing the sense of the original period, while the story and characters stay true to this classic cautionary tale.

The production captures the spooky and mysterious nature of Scrooge’s spiritual visitations with the supernatural alongside the human. Ultimately Brining hopes the play will be both "soulful and moving as well as beautiful and funny." Incorporating the expected singing and dancing, the show includes both traditional Scottish music and dance, and the carols the season warrants. Setting the play in a Scottish mill town, Brining chose a Scottish milieu hoping to "reflect back in cultural terms the place in which the play is being made", although the moral transcends the locale.

The tale may be old but the message is an enduring one: there is a lesson to be learnt through the night time warnings bestowed upon the cheerless Scrooge, as this familiar redemptive soul takes us on a journey which Brining hopes will "help us celebrate the best things about Christmas: togetherness, warmth and joy." If you’re looking for something to get you in the mood for the season then this timeless tale is it. [Sally Smith]