A Very Jewish Christmas Carol at Southbank Theatre

A new play from Melbourne Theatre Company writers-in-residence, Elise Esther Hearst and Phillip Kavanagh, puts a very personal festive spin on a Charles Dickens classic.

A Very Jewish Christmas Carol reimagines Dicken’s 1834 classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly man who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas’ past, present and yet-to-come, and is inspired to change his ways. Only in A Very Jewish Christmas Carol, the play supplants Scrooge with characters inspired by Hearst’s own family traditions.

It sees local baker Ely rushing to fulfil customer demand for her Bubi’s famous Polish gingerbread, despite her Jewish family’s impending Chrismukkah celebrations, and the imminent birth of her first child. Then there’s also the trio of ghosts – Chrismukkah Past, Gingerbread Golem and Lilith Claus – who won’t leave Ely alone, as well as the spirit of her infamously bad-tempered and recently deceased grandmother.

Written by Hearst with Kavanagh, A Very Jewish Christmas Carol intends to be a celebration of life - with an extra helping of overbearing relatives, a couple of ghosts and a life lesson or two. Directed by Sarah Giles, it stars Natalie Gamsu, Miriam Glaser, Emma Jevons, Evelyn Krape, Jude Perl, Louise Siversen and Michael Whalley.

See more details and book tickets.

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