The company at Sh*t-Faced Showtime are currently approaching the end of their festive residence at Leicester Square Theatre.
In A Pissedmas Carol, a company of actors play different parts each night, with the twist that one has been chosen to imbibe enough booze to make them an unknown (and quite possible offensive) quantity under the footlights.
Tonight, our smashed thespian is James Murfitt, who plays Scrooge. His off-script mumblings and perilously close to the stage edge wanderings are fun to watch. He is a merry miser, a debauched debt-collector, and a hammered hoarder.
Within this comedy musical – despite the “Sh*t-Faced’ premise it is slickly produced and meticulously planned around our drunken depositor – the story of A Christmas Carol just about survives, but not as we know it (I loved the Cratchits singing “Bobby, It’s Cold Outside”).
The cast (as well as Murfitt and director Katy Baker, the company includes Ashley Gerlach (tonight’s Dickens/MC), Dan Quirke (a brilliant Christmas Present/Mrs Fezziwig), Hal Hillman (a Cratchit/Young Scrooge par excellence), Issy Wroe Wright, John Mitton, Lucy Sutton and William Seaward Belle) keep the amusement levels high.
This is a comedy Carol which tweaks the nose of risk and toots the horn of inebriation. Wondering just what our sloshed star might do next has its own element of risk. Thankfully, perhaps, he at least kept his clothes on while propositioning each ghost.
If you like your Dickens to be more of the first syllable than the second, to see just why Scrooge’s engagement ended in a fog of fish, and rejoice to see Tiny Tim’s crutch kicked to the ground, this is the show for you.
This is the perfect antidote to any overindulgence during Christmas. Bang your gong, pull your cracker, and open a bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage tweaks your fancy, and have a good time.
A Pissedmas Carol closes on 7 Jan 2023 – tickets can be purchased here. For details on upcoming shows from both Sh*t-Faced Showtime (musicals) and Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare (well, Shakespeare) visit the company website.
****