A Pissedmas Carol – Sh!t-faced Showtime / Leicester Square Theatre, London

Are you ready? It’s time to get into the holiday spirits with A Pissedmas Carol!

A Pissedmas Carol

Long time readers of the Salterton Arts Review know that, no matter my intentions, it is foretold that I will see two versions of A Christmas Carol every year.  Even if I try to diversity my seasonal theatre-going, I can’t help myself. I just bl**dy love it.  The well-turned Dickensian phrases.  Scrooge’s change of heart and the subsequent lashings of Christmas cheer.  Tiny Tim saying “God bless us, every one.”  Brilliant.

So guess what? Last night I saw my first Christmas Carol of the season.  Will there be a second? Only time will tell.  But let me tell you about the first.  Because A Pissedmas Carol was unlike any version I’ve seen before.  It had Victorian costumes and carols (sort of), plenty of merriment, a few of the best lines left in but perhaps played up for innuendo.  The differentiating factor, as the title suggests, was that one of the cast of five was drunk.  Not tipsy.  Definitely drunk.  

We knew this was the premise but didn’t know beforehand who it was going to be.  Charles Dickens himself (James Murfitt) set the scene for us, and showed us just how much this mystery performer had had to drink.  Quite a lot, actually.  And as soon as Scrooge (John Mitton) stumbled on stage, we knew who had been imbibing.

Pantomine, Props, Pyrotechnics & One Very P!ssed Actor

A Pissedmas Carol is a seasonal offering by Sh!tfaced Showtime, who started out with comparable versions of Shakespeare and discovered that audiences take great amusement in one drunk person blundering their way through a performance.  They’ve been doing A Pissedmas Carol to delighted (frequently also drunk) audiences since 2019. 

It takes a multi-talented cast to put this show on.  Katy Baker (who also directs), Daniel Quirke, Issy Wroe Wright (the concept’s creator) and Hal Hillman made up the rest of the cast, playing all other roles between them.  They were singing, dancing, acting, improvising, and trying valiantly to keep the story moving.  Charlotte Brooke is the company’s musical director, and is also skilled at keeping up with the nonsense. Our Scrooge, meanwhile, went off on tangents, exclaiming at one point that he was on the brisket of losing his accent (his accent did wander off for quite a while so maybe he was onto something), and later on pondering at length whether it’s better to eat a chicken which has had a happy life or a sad one.

All of this is very jolly.  Murfitt as Dickens did his best to retain some semblance of control, not helped by Scrooge breaking his authoritative hooter (makes sense if you see it).  There was audience participation of the pantomime and get-up-on-stage kind, props, pyrotechnics, and even more drinks flowing through the course of the evening.  It’s probably best if you know more or less what’s supposed to be happening, but very funny either way.

They say not to work with animals or children as an actor: perhaps drunk people aren’t quite on that list but there is certainly a cautionary tale there.  They’re not known for their ability to wind things up quickly, and the ending did drag a little.  But overall A Pissedmas Carol was fun, frivolous, and a good start to the festive season.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

A Pissedmas Carol on until 6 January 2024