A specially adapted production of the Charles Dickens Classic Novella
by Robbie Burns into a stylish ‘One Man Show’
THE SHOW
This show has a running time of approx 70 min. and is performed in Dickensian costume using basic props to tell the wonderful story of Ebenezer Scrooge.
It is a suitable introduction into the Charles Dickens classic for both young and young at heart.
HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE PERTH,THE LITERATURE CENTRE FREMANTLE , KOORLINY ARTS CENTRE & AH BRACKS LIBRARY MELVILLE.
Well - what a Christmas 2023 was!!
We enjoyed wonderful audiences at all shows and we thank you all for your valuable support.
We will hopefully be back again at His Majesty's, Koorliny Arts Centre, The Literature Centre & AH Bracks Library in Dec 2024 as well as even more venues. Negotiations for future dates is currently under way and we will update the site as more is known and confirmed.
Thank you once again to all of you who attended one of the performances.
OUR PERFORMER
The 70 min show is a ‘Tour de Force’ by veteran actor Robbie Burns. Originally from the UK Robbie has a vast theatrical experience and has longed to play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Now living in Myaree, Robbie also runs ‘Cluedunnit’ – the Agatha Christie style Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Company.
Ingle Knight has written more than 30 plays, musicals and films including Shadow of the Eagle (co-written with G. Blazevic) – Co-Winner Best Script, WA Equity Awards; The Getaway Bus – Festival of Perth, Edinburgh Festival – Winner Best Drama, Perth Fringe 2000; The Exploding Breakfast – Broadcast on ABC Radio, Toronto Fringe 2008, nominated for Melbourne Green Room Award; Milk and Honey (adapted from Elizabeth Jolley’s novel) – Winner 1999 Premier’s Book Awards, Best Script. His latest works are Byzantium, a re-examination of Gallipoli, and The Devil You Know – which have both had staged readings locally.
UPCOMING SHOWS
2024 SEASON
We are currently planning the Christmas Season for 2024. We certainly hope to return to the 2023 venues together with even more dates at new theatre and spaces.
We are particularly interested in bring the show into schools this year. If you are interested in potentially presenting our show at your venue or school...please get in touch...we would love to hear from you.
‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’
REVIEW
The magic and wonder of A Christmas Carol is a festive favourite for many. In Australia it’s an escape to the romantic white Christmastime of Victorian England that has come to be deemed quintessentially Christmas. Robbie Burns from Cluedunnit brings the charm and pure Englishness of Dickensian London to Downstairs @The Maj and it fits in perfectly! Picture it – a big leather armchair, a tall desk and a small desk, each equipped with nineteenth century paraphernalia – and a huge thick tome that serves as a ledger but also the story itself. As Burns lights a candle we all settle back into our comfortable chairs and are instantly swept up in the tale.
Burns is every bit the embodiment of A Christmas Carol – beginning as narrator, citing the original story verbatim, he moves seamlessly from character to character. There is a chill in the air as he shifts into the gnarled and prickly Mr Ebeneezer Scrooge – words familiar, deftly performed in an indignant wheeze – his characteristics are every bit the unfriendly miser. Switching between the charming and adorable Bob Cratchitt, the gregarious nephew, and the unwitting men after a charitable donation, Burns moves from each character with ease. It’s remarkable to watch – he doesn’t break stride and suspends disbelief the whole way through. Of course, it could be the story itself but Burns’ physicality combined with sheer storytelling prowess send a crackling thrill up every spine as he approaches the door knocker to see the ghost of Jacob Marley.
It’s a wonderfully faithful rendition – Burns weaves the tale of redemption and giving with ease – flitting like firelight from person to person, ghost to ghost, and boy to man. Burns breathes life into Tiny Tim and the Cratchits’, he bubbles over with joy as Mr Fezziwig, and devastates as Scrooge’s lost love. Of course, this is a story about Mr Scrooge and Burns is so convincing he almost makes the character endearing. Wry smiles coil on the lips of the audience as Scrooge condemns the poor and the needy, and there is not a dry eye in the house as he begs for the chance to redeem himself – joyously shouting to the boy to buy the biggest turkey in the window.
A Christmas Carol is held in very high esteem and Burns absolutely does it justice. He performs with aplomb and retains the magic and charm of the show, which is essentially like having Christmas incarnate in a little theatre in the middle of Perth’s summer. Now that’s magic.
LAURA MONEY- FOURTH WALL MEDIA
Without changing costumes or makeup, the production embodies all the characters of Dickens’s masterpiece. On Christmas Eve, cold-hearted Ebenezer.
Dickens’ celebrated classic is brought to life in this delightful one man show!
This production embodies all the characters of this festive masterpiece.
On Christmas Eve, cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley, heralding that three spirits will come to haunt him. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future project the errors of Scrooge’s past and present and how they could lead to a calamitous end. The ghosts remind Scrooge of his optimistic childhood and his rotten relationships with relatives and colleagues alike. He witnesses the struggles of his clerk Bob Cratchit and family, particularly Bob’s son, the weak but optimistic Tiny Tim. Inevitably, the Ghost of Christmas Future echoes how his frightful behaviour will lead to loneliness and despair.
CHARLES DICKENS
Charles John Huffam Dickens FRSA (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today.
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens’s literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience’s reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedbacK.
His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities (set in London and Paris) is his best-known work of historical fiction. The most celebrity of his era, he undertook, in response to public demand, a series of public reading tours in the later part of his career.
Contact Us
We would really love to hear from you. If you are a receiving house / theatre/ school / venue we would really love to talk to you with regard to bringing our production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ to you in 2024.
Robbie Burns
ABN 356 315 914 77
17c Hayward Way
Myaree
Perth WA 6154
Email: info@achristmascarolwa.com.au
Phone: 0450 511 945