Review: CRATCHIT, Park Theatre

When the air gets chillier and talks of Christmas plans begin to pop up in conversation, London starts swarming with every variation of A Christmas Carol known to man. From the Old Vic's now iconic and classy version to Sh!tfaced Shakespeare's bawdy and boozy one at Leicester Square Theatre, there's a Carol for everyone. The Park is joining in the fun this year with another take on the Dickensian Victorian tale of greed and ghosts. Surprisingly, it's unmistakably political. Alexander Knott's Cratchit takes the novella's poor, exploited worker and turns him into a hero for our times in a festive tour de force spearheaded by a terrific John Dagleish.

Written and directed by Knott, it's a mostly one-man show in the first act, becoming a steady four-hander in the second. Dagleish gives us time to grow fond of his Bob Cratchit. All the while, he transforms himself into the clerk's never-named but always present ruthless master Scrooge along with an impressive array of characters. His performance is refined and perfectly calibrated, with every other persona inhabiting a specific vocal delivery and physicality.

While the titular role is humble, human, and honest, he hunches over and becomes hoarse as Scrooge, thundering over himself as the unfortunate bookkeeper from the greedy man's stooped figure. Dagleish's is the performance that keeps on giving. As he shape-shifts into the lineup, his Cratchit grows with his other characters and new facets of his personality come to the surface. While we meet him as a lovely and smiling worker, we're soon faced with his murderous rage, suicidal tendencies, and eventual awe as he leaps into alternate dimensions with the spectres he encounters.

When Cratchit's underlying sadness emerges, Dagleish gives his best, offering a reflective and heart-wrenching portrayal. His benevolence, however, turns sour as he delivers his political commentary on his working conditions. He explodes in fury, seeking vengeance over his exploitation and misery, showing up at his master's house, but then cowers in intense fear later on. Knott skilfully weaves the terror of the original story into his play, and Cratchit suddenly has to face his fair number of ghosts that set him on the right path.

While in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is guilt-tripped into being a better man, in Cratchit our main character is given hope by means of future events. But it's not all rainbows and butterflies, and his visions can be as grim as posterity itself. Exploitation and war take on different shapes, but the experience is - of course - ultimately a positive one. Tiny Tim goes from being a soldier in the Great War, depicting the Christmas Truce of 1914 for his father, to a sparkly figure in ABBA-esque garments showing him around a bright and bouncing 80s Soho, a few streets away from 56 Dean Street.

Supporting the actor throughout his journey is Freya Sharp. From Tiny Tim to Martha Cratchit and from Scrooge's nephew Fred to the various spooky spectres, she is equally mesmerising. The duo share crackling chemistry; their swift changes in characters - sometimes in the same breath - are flawlessly orchestrated by Knott's formidable direction and Zoe Grain on movement. It's all emphasised by Chloe Kenward's beautiful lighting design, which plays with temperature and ties the production together with perfectly festive ambience.

While it's somewhat of a shame that Cratchit is relegated to the Park's smaller stage, the intimate setting heightens the performances and turns the show into a private Christmas miracle. There are only 90 seats each night, run to see this!

Cratchit runs at the Park Theatre until 8 January 2022.

Photo credit: Charles Flint

To post a comment, you must register and login.