A Christmas Carol | Old Vic | ★★★★★

The Old Vic’s annual production of A Christmas Carol has almost every sickly sweet ingredient to make it utterly detestable for any self-respecting Londoner: audience participation, children on stage, pleas for the poor. And yet! Every year, this Victorian sopfest has me weeping in my chair.

The merriment kicks off before Act 1 has even begun, with audience members welcomed into the theatre by bonneted ushers passing out warm minced pies, in a foolproof way to get the crowd onside. From there, the audience, this year positioned in the round, is enfolded in the warm embrace of the golden glow created by a near 100 lanterns swinging from the skies, as a top-hatted band play some sort of convivial tune in the centre. Yes it’s twee, but it’s Christmas, and

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