Over the past months theatres have been hit hard by coronavirus restrictions. Because of this, the usual Christmas shows that are vital to keeping them open, have been cancelled. In late December, the Old Vic theatre put on a socially distanced production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens starring the Walking Dead actor Andrew Lincoln as Scrooge that they live streamed in an attempt to not lose out on the Christmas period.

Over the past year, viewing plays online has been a strange experience, with different theatres going about it in different ways. Some theatres decided to make previously recorded performances available on online platforms such as YouTube, but The Old Vic has instead decided to live stream performances from the theatre.

This production of A Christmas Carol was the traditional story that, while not adding anything new, was still extremely enjoyable thanks to the timelessness of the tale and the outstanding performances from the actors involved.

This performance was unique as, even though the actors were more spread out than they would have been in a traditional performance, by using multiple cameras, the live footage was put together in such a way that the actors looked as if they were standing right next to each other. This effect worked most of the time, however when they tried to make it look as though the actors were shaking hands it broke the immersion somewhat as their hands never seemed to line up perfectly.

Overall, the play seemed to be a big success, proving that theatres will be able to survive the coronavirus and that, no matter what happens, they will keep putting on plays for everyone to see.

By Jamie Reger