"A Christmas Carol" by Blind Eye

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Dickens' most well-known and beloved of his Christmas Stories, yes, he has written more than one, and having recently acquainted myself with five of them, can say that this one is definitely the best.

Everyone knows the story of Scrooge, the three ghostly visits and his turnaround in attitude towards his family and townsfolk, so I don't need to elaborate on the Christmas story.

Scrooge is played by Rob Hurst, and there is a lovely light and shade throughout this performance. With his "Bah humbug" approach to start with, through to his visible softening and ending with his ultimate generosity; a completely different person from his initial appearance, hunched over his desk snarling and sneering at everyone, like a caged lion.

Bertie Black, who plays the ghost of Jacob Marley, is one actor who you can count on being able to hear every word of his script as he has great projection. His portrayal of Marley's ghost brings to mind films like The Ring with that creepy staccato movements, and the make-up is spectacular in creating that ashen image. Would have loved to have been able to hear those heavy chains rattling though.

Ghost of Christmas Past is played by Beth Duffy, and again, the make-up is excellent, and I love that costume. Another actor who knows that projection is key and you can hear every word from Beth.

Ghost of Christmas Present is played by Christopher Mercer, and I echo the fact regarding projection. I also really love the drama with Chris' character plus his wonderful costume.

Ghost of Christmas Future is played by JJ Gill. Now this is one character that you would not want to run into on a dark night down a dark alley. JJ's costume is straight from a horror movie and with the skeletal mask, it was like looking death in the face. The whole persona reminded me slightly of the Jeepers Creepers character. No script but the physical acting told us everything. JJ, plus most of the other characters also double up roles throughout.

At the start, JJ and Chris play the two characters who visit Scrooge asking for donations for the needy, and between them they created a lovely comic partnership, both physically and with the delivery of the script.

Paul Duffy plays Bob Cratchit, and I do enjoy watching Paul play, what I like to term as a "human" character. Someone you can recognise, and Cratchit is a family man who is doing his utmost to put food on the table and look after his family. Again, we see both sides of Cratchit with the joy of Christmas, and the arrival of Martha, as well as when we see the loss of Tiny Tim in the "dream" sequence and the obvious hurt at losing his son.

Lindsey Hemingway plays Bob's wife, Mrs Cratchit. You really can't go wrong with Lesley in your cast as she is a chameleon when it comes to acting. She brings warmth when it's needed but you can also feel her disdain when Bob wants to toast his employer.

Logan Cordall plays Tiny Tim. I last saw Logan in "West Side Story" at the Nottingham Arts Theatre, and he is building up a decent CV of his acting work with different drama groups. He has a lovely feel for acting and working with props is no problem for Logan, and he copes brilliantly with the physicality of the part.

Fezziwig is played by James Waldron, and James not only gets to show off his acting skills again, but also his skills as a musician, playing the fiddle, and providing backing for the festive singing.

Gill Cook plays Mrs Fezziwig and I always love to see this lovely woman on stage.

Jonathan Greaves plays Fred, Scrooge's nephew, full of the spirit of Christmas, but falling flat with his Uncle. I love the optimism of Fred and Jonathan injects that hopeful optimism.

The rest of the cast are Gabriella Tilley (Fan), Philippa Buchanan (Victorian Lady), Charlie Buchanan (Niece), Caitlin Rodgers (Ignorance), Lexie Rodgers (Want), Ann Colgan (Bag Lady), Charlotte Hukin (Belle), Laura Harding (Belinda), Danielle Rodgers (Martha), Daniel Rayner (Dick Wilkins), Marcia Wood (Mrs Dilber) and Steve Webb (The Schoolmaster).

Directed by Lindsey Hemingway and JJ Gill, the dynamic Directorial duo. there were only a few things that, if I were a Director, I'd have done a little bit different. There were times when some of the actors needed to project just a bit more as I felt that they could not have been heard at the back; I was in D seats and I had to lean towards the stage to hear the script. This was only in a couple of scenes I may add.

Everyone knows that I love realism in theatre and if there is a meal to be eaten, I want to see food being eaten. No issue with this as the food on the plates were shown being eaten, but when the Undertaker wrote out his tab to the two ladies, there was no paper nor writing equipment.

I also thought that when Scrooge is at work, the day after Christmas Day, the "joke" Scrooge plays on Bob about being late and the inevitable wages increase could have been slowed down a bit as it all seemed to move too fast. An extra two or three minutes to extend the faux nastiness by Scrooge into the "nice" Scrooge reveal, I felt would have benefitted this part.

Just one other thing as well. When Scrooge's "body" was laid on stage, I felt that this could have been done behind Ghost of Christmas Future while the Undertaker scene was being played out, therefore making sure that we were concentrating on this section and not looking at the "corpse" being popped on stage.

That's probably why I review and Directors direct.

The Set Design is by JJ and yet another magical set design which looked brilliantly realistic. Making it look that way were the set producers Zackary McCormack, Grant Hemingway and Jordan Cordall. I also know that many hands make light work and the production of the set had the help of many hands, which is why this set is just visually exciting and evocative to see.

The amazingly good costumes were designed and made by JJ Gill, who has recently won awards for his costumes. I've already commented on JJ's ghost costume, which left me open mouthed in awe. But that talent and imagination was sewed into every one of the costumes on stage. I expect another award in this area for JJ.

Sound and Lighting Design, as well as the visual backdrop, is operated by Dave Martin. There were no sound cues missed, but that was because there were no mics used and I heard (almost) every word of the script anyway. The music used in the background, also sourced by JJ, was spot on, and the lighting was, at times quite dark, but that only added to the feel of the play and the dark times that the characters were existing in. And all done on a laptop Dave was telling me beforehand.

Not only does this production make you feel in a festive mood, it also creates an atmosphere of hope, as well as an unnerved feel.

I love this play and have seen several adaptations, and this is up there with the best ones. It's a busy week in local theatre but this is definitely one worth seeing. It's classic, well written and not a bum acher.

Throughout the run at the Duchess Theatre, Blind Eye will be running a raffle with proceeds going towards their chosen charity MIND, so dig deep. I missed out by one number - so near yet so far!

"A Christmas Carol" is at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 12 November.