The Royal New Zealand Ballet – A Christmas Carol

 

 

 

St James Theatre

31st October 2014

 

I love ballet and I am always excited to go and see the Royal New Zealand Ballet. As I entered the St James Theatre the curtain was up, revealing a London street, with Big Ben and St Paul’s Cathedral in the background. Various characters were walking across the stage behind a projection of falling snow. Being Christmas Eve, the town is busy with last minute preparations for Christmas, including a group of carol singers, who eventually find their way to Ebenezer Scrooge’s house. Scrooge is not at home, but his hard-working clerk, Bob Cratchit, greets the carol singers in a warm and generous manner; however, with the arrival of Scrooge, the carol singers are quickly dispersed and all joy and excitement for the coming Christmas is quashed.

From the start I was blown away by the costumes, lighting, music, set and dancing. The scene where Cratchit is desperately trying to complete his work for Scrooge, in order to get home to his family on Christmas Eve, was poignant but with some comical moments (e.g. when Cratchit tries to warm himself using a candle flame). Cratchit, who was danced by Kohei Iwamoto, had some stunning solo dances which were the highlight of the show for me.

Scrooge (Paul Mathews) was also well played and danced. Despite being at the start a thoroughly unlikeable character, he never felt beyond redemption. As he was forced to face, through his encounters with three ghosts (the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come), the reasons why he had come to dislike Christmas and then see what will happen to him if he remains so bitter and twisted, we see him gradually change and realise the importance of celebrating and sharing the joy of Christmas with those around him. The mysteriousness of the three Ghosts was cleverly achieved through fabulous costumes and lighting.

The scene changes were well managed and used effectively to create Scrooge’s dark and cold house, the lighter and warmer house of Cratchit and, in the final act, the shock when Scrooge, after seeing his funeral procession, suddenly finds himself face-to-face with his own gravestone. Orchestra Wellington provided the music throughout the show, including some old favourite Christmas carols.

I was relying on the Blackadder version of A Christmas Carol to give me the storyline, but, having seen the Blackadder version many years ago, it did not really help me! Although I was not able to identify and name many of the characters, their roles and the story itself, were self-evident. I have tried to come-up with something that I thought could have been done better and, resorting to Google, only came up with one criticism which was that one of the songs sung was composed at a later date than the story was set.

The Christmas Morning finale with the now redeemed Scrooge dancing out onto the street, wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas” and giving Cratchit a turkey for his Christmas dinner, was lively, joyful and a perfect way to finish. 

 

A Christmas Carol is well worth going to see and is a great credit to the Royal New Zealand Ballet.