London's Old Vic has found an Ebenezer Scrooge for the 2023 iteration of their annual A Christmas Carol: Christopher Eccleston (Accused, The Leftovers). As previously announced, the production will take the stage November 11, 2023–January 6, 2024, opening November 22.
"As a child, I read and watched every and any version of A Christmas Carol because of a fascination with Scrooge’s psychology," says Eccleston in a statement. "As a young actor, I read everything I could about the legendary Old Vic. I’m a very lucky man to be part of this production and cannot wait to meet our audiences."
The London company is also embarking on a public search for a charity to support during the performances. In the spirit of Dickens' own inspirations for writing the original novella, each of the six past stagings of this A Christmas Carol have collected donations for various charities via bucket collections and text and online donation portals. Last year's run raised more than £150,000 for City Harvest London, which supplied more than 600,000 meals to people in need. Over the production's history, more than £1.2 million has been raised globally for various food poverty-focused groups. Charities are invited to submit themselves for consideration by July 28 at OldVicTheatre.com.
The U.K. company has presented Jack Thorne's adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic annually since 2017, with Artistic Director Matthew Warchus at the helm (Thorne is also the co-writer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). The production played a Broadway run in 2019, winning five Tony Awards, and toured North America in 2021.
The holiday presentation features sets and costumes by Rob Howell, music and arrangements by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker, and movement by Lizzi Gee. Casting is by Jessica Ronane.
Additional casting is to be announced.
Visit OldVicTheatre.com.
Take a look at the production's 2019 Broadway run below:
