'A Christmas Carol (ish)' review — Nick Mohammed's comic take on Dickens is a festive feast with all the trimmings

Read our review of A Christmas Carol (ish), created by the Ted Lasso star, now in performances at @sohoplace to 31 December.

Second time’s the charm for A Christmas Carol (ish). The first press night of Nick Mohammed’s show was haunted by repeated technical issues and eventually had to end prematurely last week – things were not quite in the Christmas spirit! With the knowledge of its previous difficulties though, the show shone even brighter on my return. This is a festive feast, complete with all the trimmings.

The Dickens favourite is no stranger to the stage at Christmas. But in Mohammed’s version there is one (jokey) catch. “We haven’t actually got the rights,” says his character, Mr Swallow, a fast-talking, outspoken Yorkshireman. Instead, he’s banded together a few of his mates and used A Christmas Carol as the starting point for his musical adaptation of the story.

His producer and co-star Mr Goldsworth (David Elms) has rewritten the classic so that Santa Claus, played by Mr Swallow, uncharacteristically, wants to cancel Christmas. But lots of last-minute edits are constantly being added and there’s regular interruptions from Mr Swallow’s schoolmate Rochelle (an excellent Martha Howe-Douglas) and Kieran Hodgson as Jonathan/Rudolf the red nose reindeer.

Safe to say, it is a dramatic splurge of ideas and half the time it’s a real effort to follow the exact trajectory of things. But the warm glow of Yuletide cheer is impossible to ignore. We fly from scenes of Mr Swallow’s beach holiday to Santa’s present-wrapping workshop. In the second act we’re treated to the hilarity of watching Mary (yes, the mother of Jesus) visit a maternity ward and receive a doctor’s specialist treatment.

Mohammed has been performing as Mr Swallow for over 10 years, and in his squeaky voice and flouncy physicality he seems right at home. The show, which is adapted from the original he performed at Soho Theatre in 2022, includes big, jazzy and catchy musical numbers and some inventive moments of audience interaction – all tied up with a whopping flight finale that sent audible gasps around the theatre stalls.

Swallow newbies might struggle with actually getting to know who his character is – we get little information on his life before the show or how he actually got to be here. But if you lean back and revel in the random euphoria, you’ll be sure to leave satisfied. Maybe, like me, you’ll even be willing to go back for another helping.

A Christmas Carol (ish) is at @sohoplace to 31 December. Book A Christmas Carol (ish) tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: A Christmas Carol (ish) (Photos by Matt Crockett)