Marley was dead, to begin with …

NO matter how grumpy Scrooge is, you can be sure he will be bringing smiles and festive joy when he makes his annual visits during December – and this year there is a variety of Christmas Carols on tour in Dorset and the surrounding area, starting with The Travelling Players, whose tour of the New Forest and Dorset ranges from Bournemouth’s Palace Court Theatre and Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Sunday 8th December to a new production by Lyme Regis Marine Theatre’s own rep company.

The Travelling Players – a joint venture of Forest Forge, Bumblefly and Mischievous Theatre – present a show that is bursting with merriment, mayhem and humbug, telling the familiar tale with their signature inventive colourful style. Between dusk and dawn Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future! Will he mend his ways? Will he become a new man? Will he greet the morning with a … Merry Christmas Everyone?

Through their unique brand of quirky storytelling, live action, music, a puppet or two, a host of Gothic surprises, some ghostly flights of fancy and a clanking of chains, the Travelling Players bring this Yuletide classic to life. The tour continues at Moors Valley Country Park on Thursday 19th at 6pm, Broadchalke village hall on Friday 20th at 6pm, Alderholt village hall on 21st December at 2pm and Mere Lecture Hall on Thursday 9th January 2025. For full details of the tour through to January 2025, visit www.bumbleflytheatre.co.uk

A Christmas Carol at Lyme Regis is the first time that the Marine has had a home-grown Christmas show – the production of Dickens’ seasonal fable is being staged by Gilroy Theatre, following their successful debut summer rep season at the Marine. There are performances from Thursday 19th to Sunday 22nd December, with matinees and evening performances.

Probably the best known Christmas story of them all, this classic ghost story is a feel-good show for the whole family performed by a cast of professional actors, with members of the Marine Youth Theatre..

 

Joy to all mankind? Bah humbug! Prepare to spend an evening with Ebenezer Scrooge, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching, covetous, old miser – and see what the Christmas spirits have in store for him!