THE ever-popular A Christmas Carol will be staged by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre this festive season.

Following a highly acclaimed production of Running Wild during Festival 2015, the youth group are returning at the end of their 30th anniversary year with a revival of the Dickens classic.

This new production has been adapted by Bryony Lavery.

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge lives for money, the cold hard currency of gold, not caring how it is obtained or that it has crushed his own human spirit. In his eyes, people are worthless, family is a nuisance, employees ungrateful and all no more so than at Christmas, when the insanity of love and forgiveness is allowed to run amok. But this Christmas Eve is going to be different, as Scrooge is visited by three spirits sent to offer a vision of what was, what is and what shall be. Is there time for him to repent and discover the true meaning of Christmas?

Dale Rooks, Chichester’s Youth Theatre and Education Director co-directs this production with Jake Smith. Rooks’s widely praised Youth Theatre productions include Running Wild, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Noah, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, Peter Pan and Toad of Toad Hall.

Jake Smith has been a Chichester Trainee Director since 2014. Assistant Director credits include For Services Rendered, Way Upstream, The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Gypsy and Miss Julie / Black Comedy. Forthcoming credits include Arthur, a new play by Ben Weatherill, which won the Theatre Royal Haymarket 2015 Pitch Your Play award.

Bryony Lavery’s plays for Chichester include her adaptations of The Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Snow Queen.

A Christmas Carol is at Chichester Festival Theatre December 18 – January 2.

Tickets available online at www.cft.org.uk or from the Box Office 01243 781312.

On Tuesday 29 December at 2pm, there will be a Relaxed Performance of A Christmas Carol. Individuals, groups and families with children on the autistic spectrum, sensory and communication disorders or anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed theatre environment will be welcome to attend. For more information email access@cft.org.uk or call the Access Line on 01243 812927.