Victoria Walters enjoys a one-man performance of a festive masterpiece
Master storyteller, Guy Masterson, renowned for his distinctive brand of physical storytelling in one-man productions of classic stories such as Animal Farm and Under Milk Wood, makes a very welcome fifth annual Christmas visit to Bath’s Theatre Royal this week. He returns with his spellbinding, energetic and deeply poignant performance of Charles Dickens’s perennial tale, A Christmas Carol.
Amid a theatre season stuffed with glitzy, celebrity-studded pantos and lavish Nutcracker spectaculars, Masterson’s approach is deceptively simple – and yet all the more powerful for it. Staying true to the time-honoured art of storytelling, he strips theatre back to its essentials, and the results are utterly captivating.
The stage is bare, save for a simple chair and a hook, from which hangs a trench coat. This simple prop is used to ingenious effect throughout the performance: it becomes Marley’s ghost, Scrooge’s dressing gown and, hilariously, Mrs Fezziwig, dancing exuberantly at the Christmas Eve party.
Masterson leaps into the storytelling with aplomb, effortlessly conjuring a whole cast of characters through subtle shifts in voice and physicality. One moment he evokes the chilling terror of Scrooge’s unwanted spectral visitors, the next, he fills the stage with the warmth and raucous joy of Fezziwig’s Christmas party.
Nowhere is his skill more affecting than in the Cratchit household, the true heart of the story, where he brings real tenderness and poignancy to the family as they scrape together their meagre Christmas feast.
This is old-fashioned storytelling at its very best and the entire theatre was rapt as the familiar tale unfolded. Simple lighting changes and touches of sound and music add atmosphere, though it is easy to imagine Masterson’s performance being just as enchanting by candlelight alone. The spareness of the production allows the richness and meaning of Dickens’s original story to shine through.
Indeed, many of our ideas about what truly makes Christmas merry – time spent with those we love, sharing good things to eat, games and fun, and good will towards others – stem from Dickens’ novella.
First published in 1843, it was an instant hit and revived much of the nostalgia and tradition that we still associate with the holiday. Dickens himself performed more than a hundred public readings of the story. Masterson’s spirited performance draws out all the humour, pathos and atmosphere of the timeless tale, making it accessible and hugely enjoyable for audiences of all ages.
There are two more performances this week, on Friday 19 December, and I sincerely hope that Masterson will return again next year. This is a festive treat that thoroughly deserves to become a cherished part of Bath’s Christmas traditions.
To book tickets to A Christmas Carol at the Theatre Royal Bath, go to www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/a-christmas-carol/
