The Great Christmas Feast

The final part is the performance itself. Across three 25-minute acts, Adam Clifford plays Charles Dickens relaying the plot of his nearly finished new novel, A Christmas Carol, supported by two outstanding musicians – Douglas Harrison and Steffan Rees (who also composed the original music).

Clifford is mesmerising, transforming from the bawdy, praise-seeking Dickens to the stooped miserable Scrooge via a crowd-pleasing turn as a rather ribald Ghost of Christmas Present. He is supported by a particularly clever lighting design from Peter Small.

The show, written and directed by Clifford, does assume a familiarity with A Christmas Carol. It races along in a shorthand version, which does mean there’s a slight sacrifice of narrative satisfaction come the finale. But let’s not be Scrooges – this isn’t about intricacies of plot, but a big-hearted dollop of high-quality festive cheer.