Daily Info sat down with Creation Theatre to discuss this year's North Wall show, A Christmas Carol at the North Wall.
Daily Info: What does Creation Theatre have in store this Christmas?
We’re at The North Wall in Summertown with a totally bonkers, rip-roaring production of A Christmas Carol.
DI: What's A Christmas Carol all about?
A Christmas Carol is 100% the best Christmassy story, so it’s probably safe to say most people know the general gist. The reason we love it though is that of course there are parlour games and carol singers, but who wants that without the dark side of Christmas?! Four ghosts is about right for the festive season, there’s a hero who’s horrible to pretty much everyone he meets and this production really leans into the general ‘grim-ness’ of being a Victorian - there’s even a song and dance number about it.
DI: How does it feel to be bringing back a classic for your eleventh(!) Christmas show at the North Wall?
It feels a bit like we’re settling into our ‘Oxford Christmas institution’ era. So many of the families who join us at Christmas have been coming since we first rocked up at The North Wall (and plenty to The Mirror Tent before that!). Being part of someone’s family tradition is a massive privilege and we really just want to keep making the show and the whole experience better every year.
DI: When approaching a Christmas show what are the key things a production has to get right?
Fun! At the heart of what we do at Christmas is making sure that lots of people have lots of fun in two hours. We chuck everything we can at it, so there are jokes of all flavours, lots of songs and generally we set out to create a warm, joyful atmosphere to carry people through the midwinter nights. As Christmas is the only time of year we tend to venture into an actual theatre we take the chance to dial up the magic, really going all out with lights, sound, gorgeous costume and set design and even falling snow.
DI: Sum up A Christmas Carol in three words.
Joyful. Bonkers. Warm-hearted.
A Christmas Carol runs at the North Wall from 2nd December 2023 to 6th January 2024 and tickets can be found on their website.
Check out Daily Info's Great Big Chistmas Show Giveaway throughout November for the chance to win tickets to some of the best festive productions.
Photo credit: Richard Budd
