A Christmas Carol

A musical retelling of the best-loved Yuletide adventure of them all – Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

First published in 1843, the classic story has been loved and retold by every generation since. It is credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the British Christmas. GreenMatthews blend voices and instruments to create a bewitching musical version of this seasonal favourite.

The first half of the show presents a blend of Victorian carols and midwinter folk songs. They paint a vivid and colourful picture of the festive season in Dickens’ time. The second half is an hour-long retelling of his most iconic novella.

Flinty-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge endures four ghostly visitations on a cold and bitter Christmas Eve. He awakes the following morning a changed man – generous, loving and full of the Christmas spirit. This heart-warming tale is presented entirely in narrative song, using brand-new lyrics set to traditional English folk and carol melodies.

Composer Chris Green says ‘A Christmas Carol is one of those rare works of literature that has been completely assimilated into the popular consciousness. It’s a tale that has been retold and reinvented by each new generation for the last 170 years, much like a classic folk song – so it seemed a natural progression to retell it using traditional melodies with new words.‘