FCT, Leitheatre team up for Xmas show
Leading amateur companies to stage contemporary take on Dickens
Forth Children’s Theatre and Leitheatre are teaming up to create The Tale of Eliza Scrooge, a female-led modern adaptation of Charles Dickens, to be staged at the Church Hill Theatre this November, 2026.
The collaborative project is being helmed by FCT’s creative advisor, Lewis C. Baird, who is also writing the script of the new play. The original production forms part of Leitheatre’s 80th Anniversary celebrations and is the first ever collaboration between the two amateur theatre companies.
The Tale of Eliza Scrooge Header.
Setting his new script in contemporary Edinburgh, Baird says that The Tale of Eliza Scrooge reimagines Dickens’ story for a modern audience. It retains the magic, mystery and heart of the original, but shifts Dickens’ social commentary to reflect contemporary issues affecting Edinburgh’s residents in 2026.
Commenting on the collaboration, Baird said: “Creating a production that celebrates both companies’ shared values whilst giving audiences something fresh and exciting has been an incredible opportunity. We’re thrilled to bring this new vision of A Christmas Carol to life.”
There are many precedents for updating and adapting A Christmas Carol, from the Muppets and the Goes Wrong show to Guy Masterson’s one person tours. The Lyceum staged an Edinburgh-set adaptation by Tony Cownie in 2019 (revived in 2022) that entwined the tale of Greyfriars Bobby with the tale.
chilling warning
Baird’s adaptation is, like them all, set on Christmas Eve. In Edinburgh, ruthless retail CEO Eliza Scrooge is feared throughout the city, particularly by her employees. Her cold ambition and relentless pursuit of profit are challenged when the ghost of her late business partner, Jessica Marley, appears with a chilling warning.
Guided by three spirits, Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, Eliza embarks on a transformative journey of reflection and redemption, as the strap line says: “Three spirits. One stubborn woman. A reckoning in the winter dark.”
Lewis C. Baird. Pic: Supplied.
Speaking to Æ, Baird said that while the novel is timelessin both its message and its powerful storytelling, adapting A Christmas Carol for a contemporary Scottish audience comes with its own challenges.
“One of the difficulties is that historically, Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland with the same cultural weight it carried in Dickens’ Victorian England,” he said. “Hogmanay was traditionally far more significant, which meant a setting of Victorian Edinburgh would be less suitable for this story.
“Setting the piece in present day Edinburgh allowed us to place Eliza right at the heart of the city’s prominent Christmas celebrations and gave the story a contemporary relevance.”
However, it was not just a case of lifting Dickens’ characters, complete with their motives, and plonking them down in the middle of the Christmas Market, or the rides along the promenade by the Waverley Monument in East Princes Street Gardens.
urgent and relatable
Baird says: “In approaching Eliza and the characters around her, I wanted to explore what modern pressures and struggles might push someone towards cruelty, isolation or sadness.
“Dickens’ themes of greed, compassion and redemption remain as resonant as ever, but framing them through the lens of contemporary Scotland, and the social and economic challenges people face today, made those ideas feel more urgent and relatable. That felt like the key to honouring the original while giving it a fresh emotional punch for a modern audience.”
The Tale of Eliza Scrooge will contain roles for all ages – “from 10 to 100” according to the companies – with audition sign-ups open from mid-August, auditions taking place in mid-September and rehearsals starting soon after. The production will take place at the Church Hill Theatre Wednesday 25 to Saturday 28 November 2026.
The Tale of Eliza Scrooge
Church Hill Theatre, 33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Wed 25 – Sat 28 November 2026.
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: To be announced.
Leitheatre Website: www.leitheatre.com
Facebook: @Leitheatre
Instagram: @leitheatre
Forth Childrens Theatre Website: www.forthchildrenstheatre.org
Facebook: @forthchildrenstheatre
Instagram: @forthchildrenstheatre.
The Tale of Eliza Scrooge Poster.
ENDS
