EBONY SCROOGE

Sadler’s Wells East

★★★★

“a heartfelt tale of legacy and healing”

You might ask if we have any room for another interpretation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. How much more is there to squeeze out of Bob Cratchit and his ensemble? Well, ZooNation’s new production of Ebony Scrooge manages to find a genuinely refreshing take, exploring grief and identity through the medium of hip hop.

Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe led the development of Ebony Scrooge as director, writer and choreographer, setting the framework of the original story against the fashion world, where Ebony reins. When she cancels Christmas to stage her best fashion show yet, the familiar trio of ghosts knock on the studio door.

The first act is the weaker of the two, as we’re slow to get into the action. There’s an animated introduction and then a narrator-led introduction, when the audience knows the beats of the story well enough to just want to get stuck in and see what this version has to offer us. Plus, the narrators disappear for long stretches, so it’s a bit jarring when they pop back in. Lindon Barr’s solo as Bob Cratchit is a highlight, mesmerisingly fluid amongst clean and crisp, but not particularly memorable, movement from the ensemble. Natalie Pryce’s costuming gives a fun, glamorous feel, and it’s impressive to watch Leah Hill pop and lock in towering platform heels, strutting around giving orders as Ebony.

We gain clearer momentum once we meet the first ghost, which is just one instance where Joanna Scotcher’s set is used in combination with lighting to enhance the movement with theatre magic. It’s frightening to see the mannequin come to life with uncanny choreography, and heed warnings from behind the gauze. The order of the ghosts has been switched, so we meet Christmas Present first, visiting Ebony’s niece Freddie at the Christmas party she’s throwing. Melissa Bravo is genuinely joyous as Freddie, her sparky movement delivered with lightness and a beaming smile, whether she’s handing out party tickets or driving a dance off. Christmas Future sees the arrival of an army of tracksuit-ed messengers, delivering the expected sombre warning with seriousness and flair.

Where the first act feels constrained by the original story, we exhale in the second half as the show expands way beyond Dickens’ building blocks and truly flies on its own. We finally meet the ghost of Christmas Past, escaping the fashion world Ebony has boxed herself into and diving into her Dominican heritage instead. There’s a beautiful fluidity to the flashback scenes which share the source of our titular characters’ grief. As the vocals fade away and the comfort of the drumbeats remains, it’s genuinely moving to watch Ebony take tentative steps towards the free flowing energy her ancestors demonstrate, and to eventually part a dance floor to reach Young Freddie. Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante’s original music skilfully taps into nostalgia here, providing ethereal arrangements evocative of classic Christmas movies.

With solid choreography and a sharp ensemble, the dancing is as accomplished as you’d expect from the ZooNation team, but the real magic happens when the movement, music and narrative fuse into something unexpectedly tender. What starts as a funky visual spectacle transforms into a heartfelt tale of legacy and healing. This is A Christmas Carol reinvented with rhythm, warmth and unmistakable soul.

EBONY SCROOGE

Sadler’s Wells East

Reviewed on 6th December 2025

by Jessica Hayes

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SHADOWS | ★★★★ | November 2025

THE SNOWMAN | ★★★★ | November 2025

MARKING TIME | ★★★½ | November 2025

MIMI’S SHEBEEN | ★★★★ | October 2025

THE MACHINE OF HORIZONTAL DREAMS | ★★★ | October 2025

PRISM | ★★★★★ | October 2025

A DECADE IN MOTION | ★★★★★ | September 2025

SHAW VS CHEKHOV | ★★★ | August 2025

PEAKY BLINDERS: RAMBERT’S THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY | ★★★★ | August 2025

SINBAD THE SAILOR | ★★★★★ | July 2025

EBONY SCROOGE

★★★

“Visually, ‘Beautiful Thing’ is a feast of glowing colours, striking shadows and moving images”

Community – its infrastructure, its buildings, its people and its history – is at the heart of this new dance-theatre production of Jonathan Harvey’s ‘Beautiful Thing’. Taking place entirely in and around a block of the now-abandoned Binsey Walk estate (famously used in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’), Bradley Hemmings and Robby Graham’s production brings a coming-of-age love story home to its original setting – and what a setting.

The story will be familiar to some: Two Binsey Walk lads overcome parental woes and scholastic strife to find love. Hemmings and Grahams have crafted an almost wordless show that episodically retells the development of Ste and Jamie’s relationship like a greatest hits medley of the original film. Obviously intended to please crowds of Thamesmead locals and members of the LGBTQ+ community old enough (sorry!) to remember the 1993 film, the show relies on full-blown spectacle to impress and amuse, making use of the large outdoor space to bring in the 180-bus to Greenwich, cars, a VW campervan and even a JCB pickup. Visually, ‘Beautiful Thing’ is a feast of glowing colours, striking shadows and moving images. The housing block becomes a canvas for colourful and explosive projections that look cool but fail to contribute more than just showing the action we are already witnessing up-close. When Sandra learns her son could be gay, photos and film clips of her young son invite the audience into her internal world and proves one of the most moving moments of the show.

The choreography is fairly one-dimensional and underdeveloped, not quite catching the nuances of the story or characters. Despite having a huge playground, the energetic and impassioned performers are often trapped in small rooms and get lost in the spectacle of light and sound. Phil Supple’s lighting design is astonishingly good, giving each house and room a colour and identity, turning the block from dull estate to vibrant gay club in a flash.

Binsey Walk itself is the star attraction here. Some hate British post-war architecture, but here the building is let loose, representing something more than the sterility and poverty usually associated with British housing estates. The team could definitely have gone farther than just giving what it knows its audience will recognise and love. Ste and Jamie’s story feels somewhat dated, and this production taps into nostalgia rather than a re-telling of the story for a new generation of young gay men.

This historic site is about to become victim to the bulldozer. Crossrail looms. Communities and how they interact in Thamesmead, and indeed London, have changed a lot in twenty-five years. But by literally letting the audience see how the communal spirit tucked inside a place like Binsey Walk can produce a positive story of diversity, understanding, support and love against the odds, we are reminded that community is still out there for us to find, and it’s through others that our true selves can come into their own.

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Tag Archives: Melissa Bravo

EBONY SCROOGE

★★★★

Sadler’s Wells East

EBONY SCROOGE

Sadler’s Wells East

★★★★

“a heartfelt tale of legacy and healing”