The Great Christmas Feast – The Lost Estate, London

It was about time I saw London’s Dickens-themed spectacular, The Great Christmas Feast. Is it worth the ticket price for the immersive experience?

The Great Christmas Feast

Well, now. I don’t know what 2024 is coming to, but it seems I am only going to see one version of A Christmas Carol this year. Dickens’ 1843 classic is my favourite Christmas tale, and it’s been a tradition of mine to go to multiple versions each year to really get into the festive spirit. You can find the posts here for 2020, 2021 and 2022, while 2023 is here and here. There are several adaptations on in London this year, but I either can’t make the dates, or have seen them before (I’m looking at you Old Vic and your annual production!). So I thought I should at least make the one version I’m seeing this year a big one.

Enter The Great Christmas Feast. I suspect the company behind this event, The Lost Estate, either have a healthy social media budget or really good targeting, because their ads haunt me like Marley’s ghost each year. I succumbed this year and purchased tickets for myself and the Urban Geographer. We headed to West Kensington on a very wet and dreary day in great anticipation.

Once inside The Lost Estate’s converted industrial premises, we were in another world. After checking in, visitors walk through a corridor decorated like a Victorian street, before arriving in the main dining and performance space. It’s immense, far bigger than I had anticipated. Guests arrive over the hour preceding the show’s commencement, and can order drinks or additional dishes from attentive waiters. Then our three course lunch was served, each course alternating with an act from the story. The premise is that we are the guests of Mr. Charles Dickens himself, who is reading us his brand new Christmas ghost story. Dickens did in fact do a lot of public readings in his lifetime, going on reading tours of Britain where he performed his Christmas stories and other works, so it’s a nice historic touch.

It’s Dickens, But Not as We Know It

So how did this immersive dining experience version of A Christmas Carol stack up? Fairly well, overall. The Lost Estate have taken on board the advice not to mess with a classic. Most of the text comes verbatim from Dickens’ novella, making the most of its delicious turns of phrase. The main additions are modern innuendos and jokes that get big laughs from the crowd. The acting is all done by our Charles Dickens, played when we saw it by David Alwyn. He is joined on various stages dotted throughout the room by three musicians who play violin, cello and percussion. This, as well as the odd volunteer from the audience, give the actor someone to play against while he inhabits characters from Dickens to Scrooge, Marley, Bob Cratchit, Fezziwig and all the others. This is no small ask, and Alwyn has great energy, humour, and connection with the audience.

The episodic nature of the story lends itself to breaking off for ham hock terrine, duck with roast potatoes and red cabbage, and a ‘Twelfth Night’ tart of pear and frangipane. As for drinks, both wine and bespoke cocktails (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are on offer. There are various levels of ticket which determine your seating arrangements. We were at the cheaper end, so unfortunately sat near the exit to the bathrooms which affected the experience a bit. But we were at a sociable table with two other couples, which added to the festive feeling.

In hindsight I should have perhaps paid more to guarantee a non-bathroom-corridor experience. But the cheapest tickets are an investment as it is. I think the best thing to do is to shake off the outside world and the mechanics of the production and get into the spirit. There are opportunities for audience involvement, including a dance, and a great time to be had by all. And I’ll end things now as Tiny Tim would: “God bless us, every one.”

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

The Great Christmas Feast on until 12 January 2025