When Scrooge is told, “But they will die,” he coolly replies: “Then let them.” And takes his rest only to be roused by Marley’s ghost from his opium-induced sleep with the promise of the three Christmas Ghosts to appear at intervals through the night. “Can’t I have them all at once and get it done with?” asks Scrooge. 

This wisecrack is knowing and witty, but does it sit right coming from a man who has just sentenced a family to death? The Ghost of Christmas Past shows how Scrooge first turned to the dark side when rejected by a young woman. She has seen exactly what Smoky Mountain poverty does to wives and will have none of it. She leaves. Scrooge stays, but only to make things worse for other people. This level of realism is rammed home when three striking miners are shot dead on stage. Something I have never seen in a Christmas show before.

But then we shift into a more amiable Panto-land where the Cratchits cheer themselves up with Christmas Presents. Not real ones, but the images in a mail order catalogue. Nephew Fred and Amy Sue prepare to chop up their furniture to feed a fire to help their neighbours celebrate the Nativity. Both scenes have a ring of truth but are presented in a layer of cosiness.