One bitter Christmas Eve, a cold-hearted miser is visited by four ghosts. Transported to worlds past, present and future, Ebenezer Scrooge witnesses what a lifetime of fear and selfishness has led to, and sees with fresh eyes the lonely life he has built for himself. Can Ebenezer be saved before it's too late?
Jack Thorne's joyous adaptation of Charles Dickens's timeless classic premiered at The Old Vic, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Matthew Warchus, and starring Rhys Ifans as Ebenezer Scrooge. It was revived at the Old Vic in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
'Dickens' tale of personal conscience and moral responsibility might be more relevant that ever... Thorne doesn't shirk the anger at social attitudes towards poverty, but also delivers a rousing festive feast that will leave even the most miserly curmudgeon filled with redemptive joy'
— Radio Times
'Dickensian and modern, clever and heartfelt, gripping and touching and tuneable and serious and sometimes funny... its marvellously heartfelt Christmas quality would delight the original author'
— TheatreCat
'Magical... Thorne's adaptation is traditional but with a modern twist that delights'
— The Times
'Jack Thorne's new version of Dickens' story stands high on my list of favourites... combines the social anger with a genuine sense of festivity... this is Dickens done with love and affection. The fable's warning about the danger of treating poverty as if it were a moral vice could also hardly be more timely'
— Guardian
'Provides everything you might want from a theatrical adaptation of Dickens's timeless (and never more timely) morality tale urging social responsibility and compassion... the new adaptation by Jack Thorne fuses fun with the macabre and a fine degree of psychological depth... both witty and deeply affecting'
— Independent
'There is a contemporary resonance to it… a love song to Christmas and the redeeming power of theatre'
— Observer
'Incredibly atmospheric... Jack Thorne's relatively faithful adaptation lets Dickens' words do their work, but then opens things up in a second half that is emotionally rich and, on occasion, truly moving'
— The Stage
Author Biography:
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic who is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. His major works include: The Pickwick Papers (1836), Oliver Twist (1837–9), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–9), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–4), David Copperfield (1849–50), Bleak House (1852–3), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1855–7), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860–1), Our Mutual Friend (1864–5) and the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870), as well as other novels, books and short stories. None of his major works has ever gone out of print.
Jack Thorne is a playwright and BAFTA-winning screenwriter.
His plays for the stage include: When Winston Went to War with the Wireless (Donmar Warehouse, 2023); The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre and West End, 2023; Evening Standard Award for Best Play; Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play); After Life, an adaptation of a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda (National Theatre, 2021); the end of history... (Royal Court, London, 2019); an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (Old Vic, London, 2017); an adaptation of Büchner's Woyzeck (Old Vic, London, 2017); Junkyard (Headlong, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Theatre Kingston & Theatr Clwyd, 2017); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London, 2016); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae and Theatre Royal Plymouth, 2015); Hope (Royal Court, London, 2015); adaptations of Let the Right One In (National Theatre of Scotland at Dundee Rep, the Royal Court and the Apollo Theatre, London, 2013/14) and Stuart: A Life Backwards (Underbelly, Edinburgh and tour, 2013); Mydidae (Soho, 2012; Trafalgar Studios, 2013); an adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Physicists (Donmar Warehouse, 2012); Bunny (Underbelly, Edinburgh, 2010; Soho, 2011); 2nd May 1997 (Bush, 2009); When You Cure Me (Bush, 2005; Radio 3's Drama on Three, 2006); Fanny and Faggot (Pleasance, Edinburgh, 2004 and 2007; Finborough, 2007; English Theatre of Bruges, 2007; Trafalgar Studios, 2007); and Stacy (Tron, 2006; Arcola, 2007; Trafalgar Studios, 2007).
His television work includes His Dark Materials, Then Barbara Met Alan (with Genevieve Barr), The Eddy, Help, The Accident, Kiri, National Treasure and This is England '86/'88/'90.
His films include The Swimmers (with Sally El Hosaini), Enola Holmes, Radioactive, The Aeronauts and Wonder.
He was the recipient of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing in 2022.
![Sam Weller, Or, the Pickwickians. a Drama in Three Acts [And in Prose, Founded on Charles Dickens's Novel]. by William Thomas Moncrieff](https://d3fa68hw0m2vcc.cloudfront.net/images/autosize/24860179.jpeg?width=228&height=285&format=jpeg "Sam Weller, Or, the Pickwickians. a Drama in Three Acts [And in Prose, Founded on Charles Dickens's Novel]. by William Thomas Moncrieff")
![Pickwick. a Dramatic Cantata in One Act, Etc. [Based on an Incident in Dicken's Novel.] by Francis Burnand](https://d3fa68hw0m2vcc.cloudfront.net/images/autosize/24924792.jpeg?width=228&height=285&format=jpeg "Pickwick. a Dramatic Cantata in One Act, Etc. [Based on an Incident in Dicken's Novel.] by Francis Burnand")
![The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens, with a Few Miscellanies in Prose. Now First Collected, Edited, Prefaced and Annotated [Together with "The Bibliography of Dickens"] by Richard Herne Shepherd. by Charles Dickens](https://d3fa68hw0m2vcc.cloudfront.net/images/autosize/17556460.jpeg?width=228&height=285&format=jpeg "The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens, with a Few Miscellanies in Prose. Now First Collected, Edited, Prefaced and Annotated [Together with \"The Bibliography of Dickens\"] by Richard Herne Shepherd. by Charles Dickens")
