Reviews
There’s hope at Christmas
Christmas would not be Christmas with out a staging of Charles Dickens's famous story about the mean and selfish Ebenezer Scrooge.
But this is a Christmas Carol with a difference.
A one-man show, it comprises impersonator Steve Nallon narrating the story and acting everyone of the characters -- but each one in the guise of a famous person.
Nallon is an impressive impersonator -- one moment taking off David Beckham and the next Margaret Thatcher. And in a 90-minute show he works his way through a seemingly endless array of characters.
But it is not just the voices, Nallon has the mannerisms of Robin Williams, Woody Allen, Anne Robinson or Cilla Black down to tee. And he has placed them in their most appropriate parts. So Tony Blair is the young Scrooge, who gives up everything in order to earn money, Alastair Sim is his older self and Mickey Mouse is a young child spurned by Scrooge in the street.
Dame Maggie Smith is the Ghost of Christmas Past whose clipped voice and slightly admonishing tone shames Scrooge into realising where he has gone wrong. And Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket in the comedy Keeping up Appearances is the hearty Mrs Cratchit.
The intimate space of The Door, the second stage at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, means Nallon can easily connect with the audience -- and even involve them where necessary. And despite it sparse staging and lack of special effects, it retains that good will feel -- by the end Scrooge is redeemed and we all leave knowing there is hope at Christmas.
Diane Parkes, Birmingham Evening Mail, 18 December 2003