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A Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge is a grouch. He never has a kind word for anyone, and is infamously stingy – especially at Christmas. When the three ghosts of Christmas pay him a visit, Scrooge is given the opportunity to examine his conscience, prompting him to change his selfish, cantankerous ways and transform himself through the spirit of Christmas – before it is too late…

Lawrence Batley Theatre and Front Room Productions in association with David Bunting Animation present an original adaptation of Charles Dickens’ definitive yuletide story A Christmas Carol.

  • Olivia Race
    Director
    Theatre Directing credits include A Midsummer Nights Showcase, Henry V, We are Outlaws: The Leeds Sufferagette Story, Twas the Night Befrore Christmas (Pl
  • Olivia Race
    Writer
  • Lawrence Batley Theatre
    Production Company
  • Front Room Productions
    Production Company
  • Lauren Yvonne Townsend
    Producer
  • Gyles Brandreth
    Key Cast
    "Ebenezer Scrooge"
    Great Canal Journeys, Countdown, The One Show, Celebrity Gogglebox
  • David Bunting
    Animation Director
    Shaun the Sheep, Bob the Builder, Robozuna, Dennis: Gnasher Unleashed, The Tigger Movie
  • James McKay
    Art Director
    2000 AD
  • Adam Kirk
    Editor
    The Astronomer's Sun
  • Claire-Marie Seddon
    Musical Director and Composer
  • Jonathan Hudson
    Sound Design and Engineering
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Drama, Christmas, Family
  • Runtime:
    39 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 26, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Olivia Race

Olivia is the Artistic Director of Front Room Productions, and also works as a freelance Director and Theatre-Maker and is the Creative Associate at Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield. A dedicated theatre-maker, actress, director and producer, based in West Yorkshire. Whilst completing a degree in English Literature at Durham University Olivia immersed herself in theatre. She established Front Room Productions in 2015. The company is dedicated to producing intimate theatre where you least expect to find it. Leading audiences on an interactive journey around familiar locations, allowing them to experience these spaces in a new way and engage with theatre on a very personal level. Furthermore, she is immensely proud of her Northern roots, and endeavours to stage productions with Front Room that showcases and celebrates the wealth of talented performers working across the region.

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Director Statement

2020 was a tough year. There's no doubting that. But for Christmas, we teamed up with the Lawrence Batley Theatre in association with David Bunting Animation to create an animated short film of our original theatre adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Featuring the voices of an incredible community cast from across Kirklees and starring Gyles Brandreth as Ebenezer Scrooge.

This unique production brings together a Yorkshire-based creative team and cast of 42 community members aged between four and 73 from across Kirklees who have all gone through a digital audition and rehearsal process. The cast rehearsed the production in isolation using video calling software and recorded their lines adhering to social distancing.

Award-winning Animation Director David Bunting and Art Director James McKay storyboarded the film and led a virtual animation production crew. To complement the Yorkshire dialect, James McKay brought details of the Dickensian world to a West Yorkshire setting. Everything from bonnets, petticoats and top hats to dark satanic mills, moors (not to mention the Bronte sisters) was been hand-painted to create our unique 'Christmas Carol' world in this unique piece of 'Animated theatre'.