A Very Cornley Christmas
Welcome to Cornley Playhouse, home to the Cornley Drama Society, whose productions can never seem to go quite right. Mischief productions have returned to Edinburgh once again, this time with their show ‘A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong’ (fittingly belated to the season). You may recognise the title coined by Mischief from their hit show ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and since it’s take off in 2014, they have reimagined their format time and time again. In this production we find the society taking on the Charles Dickens classic and suffice to say there are significantly more antics than Dickens could have ever crafted himself.
At the helm of Mischief’s production is Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Creative Director Jonathan Sayer, who not only wrote the show alongside Henry Shields, but both give stand out performances as their respective characters. Lewis portrays the burly, egotistical Robert Grove, whose fascination with Nudist stories brings an absurdist nature to the show that contrasts nicely to more innocent humours of some characters. Such as Sayer, who to Shields contrast, plays the sweet souled Dennis. Dennis’s characterisation and portrayal of Bob Cratchit, makes you feel the warmth you’d expect a mother to have watching her five-year-old play a sheep in their primary nativity, giving a bleat before knocking over the manger. Each bat off straight-man Chris Bean, our 30-year-old Ebenezer Scrooge played by Daniel Fraser, with such unbridled chaos that seeing his outbursts towards them never once gets old.
The entire ensemble shine through two hours of belly laughing slapstick; the audience was in consistent stitches throughout the duration and not one person left without a smile on their face. Whether that be due to the Ghost of Marley’s chain’s encompassing every set piece they can wrap themselves around, or a liquor cupboard represented by a giant Malteser box, there was something for us all. My stomach even dropped a couple times fearing something may have gone wrong (for real this time). However, the array of punch lines presented could unfortunately go either way, with some feeling perfectly paced for the shock factor, but others feeling too predictable from the set up that their effect isn’t so much felt.
Mischief’s productions hold up to their name in every way possible and A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is no different. I hope they keep finding ways for things to go wrong for many years to come.
This show runs until Sunday 15th February at Edinburgh Festival Theatre before continuing on tour to Glasgow and Canterbury!