Christmas Carol Goes Wrong
★★★★☆ Tight
Festival Theatre: Tue 10 – Sun 15 Feb 2026
Review by Thom Dibdin
Mischief Theatre go back to basics in their adaptation for the stage of the 2017 smash hit TV show, Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, at the Festival Theatre to Sunday and Glasgow King’s next week. And their greatest creation, the Cornley Drama Society, are all the better for it.
The original saw Cornley’s most amateur of am-dram companies hijacking a TV studio to film their version of Dickens. For the stage version they are producing their own Christmas show at the Cornley Playhouse. The changes are intelligently done: what worked in a TV studio doesn’t necessarily work on stage.
Members of the Cornley Drama Society discuss the set for their production of A Christmas Carol. Dumile Sibanda, Henry Lewis, Daniel Fraser, Sasha Frost and Chris Leask. Pic: Matt Crockett
So this opens with Daniel Fraser as Chris, the director and Cornley lynchpin, holding auditions for A Christmas Carol. Which then allows the company regulars to introduce themselves to both to the audience and this most pernickety and uptight of individuals.
It’s the simplest of moves, but as Cornley’s rehearsal process unfolds, it serves very well to establish the character traits and quirks which drive the comedy of the performance that is to come. And for long term fans, it’s a space to give depth to the characters they have come to know from two series of the Goes Wrong show on TV, The Play that Goes Wrong on stage and Peter Pan Goes Wrong on both.
an even bigger treat
Those fans are in for an even bigger treat. The Goes Wrong franchise has seen many actors take on these vulnerable amateur thespians, but several of the original company appear in this premiere tour of the adaptation.
Henry Lewis plays over-the-top, inveterate over-actor Robert; Jonathan Sayer is sieve-brained Dennis; Chris Leask is fumble-fingered techie Trevor; Greg Tannahill is wanna-be love interest Jonathan; and, although she is in a job-share with Dumile Sibanda, Nancy Zamit plays Annie, who is always happy to flaunt her sensuality.
Daniel Fraser and Nancy Zamit. Pic: Mark Senior.
It is a joy to see them all in their original roles. However, these are proper characters, who exist outside of the performers who first created them. Fraser is a case in point, making Chris his own: bringing all the aloofness that Henry Shields gave him, but not necessarily aping all his tics.
Ashley Tucker also brings a wealth of talent to the role of Sandra, who is desperate to get her name in the press, an agent and a part in Hollywood. Her ability to embody “all three emotions” is a beautifully performed and timed piece of work.
Matt Cavendish plays needy wanna-be actor Max with relish. It’s a role he has taken on several tours of Mischief shows, and he has the necessary flourish of always performing as himself, while milking every laugh long beyond its time.
Chekhovian foreshadowing
Lewis, Sayer and Henry Shields’ script sometimes feels a little obvious, although they stay on the right side of that fine line between Chekhovian foreshadowing and telegraphing their jokes too far in advance.
The appearance of a large parcel in Christmas wrapping on stage at the top of the second act is a case in point. Those who realise which ghost is due to appear next will be quietly chuckling to themselves – until they remember Robert has been slated to play them, when the possibilities expand exponentially.
A scene from Christmas Carol Goes Wrong. Pic: Matt Crockett.
The development of the characters will surely become canon for any future iterations of the Goes Wrong franchise. Dennis, for example, now has a friendship diary, and has joined the Society as a way to make friends, although he still relies on prompt cards secreted around the set to say his lines.
It also throws back to previous productions. Jonathan is so traumatised by events seen in Peter Pan Goes Wrong that he is afraid of heights, is unable to stand on anything higher than the bottom step and has moved into a bungalow.
The biggest success of the production is that it is genuinely funny for all. Fans will be satisfied with the modifications of the script, and the occasional Easter egg, where a plot device is recycled in a new way.
a fully fleshed out piece of work
Anyone who has no prior knowledge of the Goes Wrong shows will be equally happy at a fully fleshed out piece of work that stands for itself.
Director Matt DiCarlo brings out the best of the performers and clearly understands the internal dynamics of the Cornley Drama Society. A production meeting where the minutes of the previous meeting are being read is an awesome piece of work.
Huge praise should also go to set designer Libby Todd for creating both the stage of the Cornley Playhouse and bringing a bounty of visual gags to the sets used by the company in their performance of A Christmas Carol. Roberto Surace’s costumes help the physicality of the performances, while David Howe’s lighting is pin-point accurate in aiding the storytelling.
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is an all-round success, packed with laughs and bolstered by an underlying humanity.
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes (including one interval)
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Tue 10 – Sun 15 Feb 2026
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Sat/Sun Mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Glasgow King’s Theatre, 297 Bath St, Glasgow G2 4JN
Tue 17 – Sun 22 Feb 2026
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mat: 2.30pm; Sun: 2pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Daniel Fraser and Henry Lewis. Pic: Mark Senior.
ENDS
