The Christmas panto season is upon us and as such The Royal Court production is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, but with a twist – it takes place in 1845 in Liverpool - it’s the Scouse Christmas Carol! It is brazenly scouse, full of risqué innuendo, bawdy one-liners and scouse humour at the expense of local personalities and beloved local football clubs plus many references to scouse culture. It is definitely an adult panto with an Age Advisory 16+ caution due to the very strong language used throughout the show, anyone offended by strong language should give it a miss.
The outstanding script from Kevin Fearon turns Dickens’ classic novel on its head and depicts Barbara and Freddie Marley finding out that that they haven’t inherited Jacob Marley’s business, ‘Jacob’s Biscuits’. Marley had mysteriously disappeared and it’s Scrooge who has inherited the business. This calls for the Garston Ghostbusters to solve the mystery as to what has really happened and they decide to try to get the answers from Scrooge by haunting him.
This larger-than-life production directed by Mark Chatterton, is a laugh-a-minute show which hardly gives the audience time to catch it’s breath in-between the innuendo and lewd vocabulary. Although expletives are generally accepted in an adult panto, some may think this show is a little over the top in this department, but the audience lapped it up and were shouting for more at the finish.
It’s difficult to name outstanding performances as the whole cast are remarkable performers and vocalists. Lindzi Germain as ‘Dame’ Barbara was born to entertain, she commands the stage in every scene with her full-on personality, loud voice and camaraderie with the audience. In contrast to this, her rendition of Adele’s ‘When We Were Young’ touched the heart of many and showcased her versatility, her whole performance as Barbara was outstandingly superb. As was Paul Duckworth as Scrooge. His comic timing is spot-on with facial expressions and body configurations exceptionally perfectly executed. His rendition of Right Said Fred’s ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in nightshirt and long-johns is hilarious. He also captivated the audience with his harmonica playing. But no spoilers here as the pleasure will be spoilt for anyone planning to see the show.
What can be said about Royal Court veteran, Keddy Sutton? She is exemplary! She takes on five distinctive roles throughout the show, and she excels in all. As Town Crier, Housekeeper, Mayor Joe Anderson, Judge and 1970’s DJ, her acting scope is fantastically diverse and knows no bounds, she is a standout performer in every scene, small in stature but enormous in talent.
Helen Carter as Mrs Scratchitt provides excellent stage presence particularly whilst singing as her voice is remarkable and John-Paul Birss, Lydia Rosa Morales Scully, Lenny Wood and Jhanaica van Mook all give excellent performances, they also harmonise beautifully, and each song is a treat to listen to. Every member of the cast have strong vocals and perform confidently making the whole production a pleasure to watch and enjoy.
Commendations must be awarded to the outstanding set design by Ellie Light; Victorian London was brought to life with an amazing set which captured the essence of the era. The stage revolve was made full use of incorporating a quartet of sets depicting four different scenes - the main street, Scrooge's bedroom, Scrooge’s office and the Scratchitt's home. The show was made even funnier when the turntable failed and backstage crew were called upon to push it to the accompaniment of Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Push It’. Whether this was scripted or not was hard to tell as it gelled so well into the storyline.
Cementing the show together are the song-and-dance routines with Ben Gladwin’s four-piece live band and vocalists who were on stage throughout. There were some clever song choices from Music co-ordinator, Greg Joy, such as ‘Thriller’, ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘The House of Bamboo’ amongst others. Beverley Norris-Edmunds’ choreography was energetic and blended seamlessly, she challenges the cast who always look as though they are having a fun time performing. Adam McCoy particularly stands out during the dance sequences, he is an all-round brilliant performer who also provided comedic interludes as Dame Barbara’s son, Freddie.
Costume choices from Ellie Light were perfect, some of them brilliantly outstanding worn by Dame Barbara and along with Germain’s ad-libs and banter provided further laughs from the audience. Clever use of puppetry is also incorporated.
The Royal Court’s Christmas pantos are a Liverpool tradition, this one has succeeded once again to be highly entertaining, funny and extremely memorable due to the remarkable talents of the cast and hard work of the creatives and crew who combine to bring such wonderful entertainment to the theatre. It is a combination of scouse silliness and historic twisted fiction. Catch it if you can, it is showing until 17th January 2026.
Tickets available from https://liverpoolsroyalcourt.com/main_stage/the-scouse-christmas-carol/
Reviewer – Anne Pritchard
On – 29.11.25
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