Red Bus Londinium Life

Sadler’s Wells christens its new Stratford East home with a festive flourish, unwrapping a Christmas Carol remix that sails via the Caribbean (where our eponymous fashion doyenne, Ebony Scrooge, is born) to London’s cruel, style-soaked streets. Think Dickens, brushed in Devil-Wears-Prada cool, infused with hip-hop energy.

This ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company and Sadler’s
Wells production isn’t a faithful retelling and does not aim to be. Anyone craving Tiny Tim in foggy Victorian London will need to look elsewhere. The sequence of the ghosts is reshuffled, softening some of the original’s poignancy, and while the anxious factory workers nod to Dickens’ debtors, the reimagined arc for Bob Cratchit pushes the story firmly into new territory, though the idea of redemption remains clear.

Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe takes on directing, writing and choreographing in her debut mainstage production for ZooNation, and it’s an assured triple command. Her choreography is a collaboration with Bradley Charles, Shakira Brown and the Zoonation Company. It is striking and captures humour, frenzy, loneliness, sadness and pain through a deft blend of hip hop and contemporary movement. A vibrant, lively production, the pace carries the audiences so briskly that the evening seems shorter than it is.

Leah Hill’s Scrooge has buried her pain so deeply that she’s built a monochromatic fashion behemoth at the cost of any real joy. The early costumes mirror this greyscale world, while the stark, warehouse-style set offers only fleeting dashes and hints of colour: chromatic touches that are then used with smart precision to signal emotion and define different scenes and characters later on.

The original, pre-recorded, score by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante is a perfect match for the production, offering a broad and dynamic range that never feels repetitive. Each piece is carefully tailored to the scene, matching the frantic energy of the factory to the vibrant rhythms of Caribbean folk dance.

It’s a slight shame that the finale, though lively, doesn’t fully embrace the rainbow vibrancy it hints at, nor circle back to the warm Christmas spirit of the opening. The ending feels a touch more understated than it needs to be, though the audience’s exuberant energy at the curtain call more than compensates.

Even so, this is a delectable addition to anyone’s Christmas theatre selection and a promising start to festive productions at Sadler’s Wells East.

[Thank you to Sadler’s Wells East who provided a gifted ticket in exchange for an honest review.]