By Richard Watson
This Christmas, the Huddersfield Thespians have a new home. After 28 years performing in Huddersfield town centre, the Thespians are taking their next production to Longwood Mechanics Hall.
They’ll be bringing Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ to life on stage from December 14-17. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without Dickens, would it?
The Mechanics Hall has a long history of providing activities for the local community, including performances by, among others, Longwood Amateur Operatic Society.
The Thespians are looking forward to adding to this history, and getting to grips with a new performance space. They’re also running a small bar for the first time, and selling copies of their centenary book: ‘Different Stages: Celebrating 100 Years of the Huddersfield Thespians, 1920-2020.’
READ MORE: Find out more about the Thespians’ centenary book HERE
‘A Christmas Carol’ tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited one cold Christmas Eve by the tormented ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, who gives him a terrible warning. In life, Marley, like Scrooge, loved his money and his business more than he loved his family, festive cheer, or his fellow humans.
But Marley suffers in his afterlife, and wants to help Scrooge tread a different path. Is there still time for Scrooge to change his ways and avoid Marley’s fate?
‘A Christmas Carol’ will be performed at Longwood Mechanics Hall from December 14 to 17, at 7.30pm every evening. There’s also a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday. Tickets are available on the door, by phone (0333 666 3366), or online: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/Huddersfield-Thespians.
Early arrival is advised, as although there is parking, this is limited to surrounding side roads. The main road outside the hall is for disabled parking and drop-off only.
‘A Christmas Carol’ is the second play in the Huddersfield Thespians’ 103rd season of quality local theatre. It will be followed in March 2023 by an adaptation of the Ealing Comedy classic ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’ at Longwood Mechanics Hall. The season ends with Edward Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in May.
