Christmas Carol Goes Wrong delivers exactly what audiences hope for from Mischief Theatre: festive cheer gleefully dismantled by impeccable comic chaos. It is loud, slick, gloriously silly, and—crucially—precision-engineered beneath the anarchy.
The premise, scripted by Mischief co-founders Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, is delightfully simple, though the execution is anything but. The chaos begins well before opening night in the audition room, where steely director Chris (Daniel Fraser) inevitably casts himself in the lead role. He ignores Robert's (Henry Lewis) desperate pleas for the part, as well as the fact that the dim-witted Dennis (Jonathan Sayer) labours under the delusion that Bob Cratchit is a frog, and that Jonathan (Greg Tannahill) has PTSD.
This sets the stage perfectly for the well-meaning (but catastrophically under-rehearsed) amateur company to attempt Dickens’ seasonal classic, only for everything that can go wrong to do so with escalating enthusiasm. Scenery collapses, technical cues rebel, props develop minds of their own, and the earnest attempt to preserve “the show” becomes the greatest joke of all.
The cast, drawn from Mischief Theatre’s ensemble, are in terrific form. Each performer commits fully to their dual roles: the doomed Victorian characters of A Christmas Carol and the increasingly desperate actors trying to play them. The company’s trademark strengths—pinpoint timing, physical comedy, and absolute seriousness in the face of disaster—are on full display. What makes the show sing is not just the slapstick, but the way every malfunction is rooted in character, rivalry, and misplaced theatrical pride.
The production values are impressively deceptive. The set is designed to fail in ever more inventive ways, and the technical “mistakes” are executed with military precision. It’s a reminder that Mischief’s comedy, for all its chaos, is built on formidable craft.
Directed by Matt DiCarlo and produced by Mischief Theatre in association with Kenny Wax Ltd and Stage Presence, the show continues the company’s remarkable run of hits, and feels like a confident, crowd-pleasing addition to the Goes Wrong canon. It embraces the spirit of Dickens while never letting reverence get in the way of a good gag.
A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is exactly what it promises and exactly what you want on a cold winter’s night: sharp, silly, and relentlessly funny. By the final bow, the audience is exhausted with laughter—and very much in the Christmas spirit, albeit one slightly crushed by falling scenery.
It runs until 25 January 2026. Tickets: here.
Review: Oliver Popa Photos: Mark Senior