Charles Dickens' perennial favourite always spawns a slew of seasonal shows - this year the capital has both Sherlock Holmes and Dolly Parton-inspired adaptations of the redemptive tale. Well if it worked with The Muppets why not?

Running at the Old Vic for 10 years, writer Jack Thorne and Matilda director Matthew Warchus' A Christmas Carol plays loose with some aspects, but stays faithful to its Victorian spirit - while fashioning something upliftingly communal and theatrical from it.

Not only is its message of compassion in the face of deprivation ever timely, but it never forgets the 'carol' in the title. Scenes are underscored by the multi-talented music ensemble, and a dozen festive songs are performed with handbells and gorgeous harmonies (arrangements and composition Christopher Nightingale.)

This Is Local London: Owen Teale as Scrooge in A Christmas CarolOwen Teale as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (Image: Manuel Harlan)Musicians play as frock-coated top-hatted performers hand out oranges and mince pies below a hundred hanging lanterns while the audience files in. We're instantly drawn into Dickens' story of extreme swings, between loneliness and conviviality, gloom and joy, cockle-warming sentimentality and the grim reality of poverty.

Death stalks the action from the moment Jacob Marley's ghost arrives to warn Scrooge of visits by three female ghosts clad in colourful rags; the celebrations at the Fezziwigs and Cratchits light up the stage, but are foreshadowed by tragedy and rounded off by a funeral.

Owen Teale is the latest to pick up Ebenezer's quill, sturdier and more passionate than Dickens' grasping wretch, he's convincingly haunted by his own father's debts and puts up a ravaged resistance to the ghosts' message before his joyful redemption and enthusiastic conjuring of a festive feast.

Performed by actors who are differently abled, Tiny Tim - on our night - Casey Indigo Blackwood Lashley is an adorable moppet who brought the house to tears.This Is Local London: A Christmas Carol at the Old VicA Christmas Carol at the Old Vic (Image: Manuel Harlan)

As the cost of living crisis brings some to Dickensian levels of poverty, the timely reminder of those less fortunate - underscored by a bucket rattling post show collection for charity, that has raised more than £1million over the decade.

A Christmas Carol runs at The Old Vic until January 7. https://www.oldvictheatre.com/