A Christmas Carol to open at Storyhouse Chester in December

Storyhouse theatre in Chester has announced that A Christmas Carol is to play at the venue this winter.

The new production of Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale will run between December 2, 2020 and January 17, 2021.

A limited capacity audience of 200 will be welcomed each night with social distancing and other safety measures in place.

Tickets are available to book online here with 60 shows over the festive period.

Storyhouse’s Artistic Director Alex Clifton, who is both writing and directing the adaptation of Dickens’ best loved story, said: “It’s going to make you cry and giggle your heart out; it’s the ultimate tale of redemption and how Christmas can make us all realise what’s important to us – family and community, something we all need more than ever right now.

“It’s a tale for every generation and hopefully can give us all a joyful taste of our normal lives, as we spend Christmas together at Storyhouse.”

Andrew Bentley, Storyhouse CEO said: “We’re over the moon to opening and to finally have some certainty over Christmas. It’s bittersweet though as many of our colleagues across the country will now face cancelling shows in Tier 3 areas, some of the UK’s favourite regional theatres are on that list.

“We’ve been saying that theatres should be open for their communities, and this shows how hard that really is, in this climate. Actors and freelancers will be hit again by this.

“We told our customers in Liverpool and Wales in particular that we would hold seats back for when they were allowed to come, that despite the overwhelming demand we are facing. We’ve been good for that promise and, today have released previously held back seats for every show, only for customers in Liverpool, the Wirral and in Warrington. Unfortunately however, there is still no clarity on Welsh travel across the border.

“It’s our privilege and our joy to be staging a show this Christmas, we are one of the lucky ones. Storyhouse was the country’s first theatre to open after lockdown and we learnt a lot about staging shows in this climate, in the summer, with a 33-date run of A Comedy of Errors. That sold out in a week and we know how much a little taste of normal means to the country. We’re proud to be playing our part. Bring on the tinsel.”