A Christmas Carol (2010/11 play, Trafalgar Studios London)

Play about a miserable old skinflint who hates Christmas until four ghosts convince him to have a go at being nice for a change.

What's that? You say you've heard this story before? Oh no you haven't - take a leaf out of Scrooge's book and cut author Charles Dickens some slack here, even if he does tend to get away with churning out the same dozen plots again and again these days.

Page 12 of the show's programme discusses the audience's familiarity with such an iconic tale far better than I can:

"Had Charles Dickens met his own Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, would he have been pleased or horrified to learn how often and under how many guises A Christmas Carol would be re-told each winter?

It is not surprising that A Christmas Carol is hugely appealing to today's audience - it is set in a far-gone era; it has ghosts and time travel; it is a horror and a drama with a happy ending - something for all. And though Ebenezer Scrooge is not a character we ever want to resemble, there are moments when we are likely to identify with him. Ultimately, Scrooge's story preys on a common fear - what regrets might we, each one of us, have on our deathbeds?"

Bearing in mind that I've never read the original book, this production includes all the elements that I've come to expect of the story (barring muppets) in a suitably imaginative and surreal way.

I do hope that humbugs were available in the foyer.