MARIA DUARTE, LEO BOIX and ANGUS REID review Brides, Dead of Winter, A Night Like This, and The Librarians

A Christmas Carol
Old Vic, London
THE annual celebration of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic did not disappoint: it is an explosion of energy from an excellent cast, anchored by the outstanding John Simm playing Scrooge.
This is the eighth year that the Old Vic has performed A Christmas Carol, making it a real festive curtain raiser for the many who attend. The play represents Christmas writ big, celebration and joy, yet also a very moral story of one man’s redemption.

PAUL DONOVAN recommends three new books that explore the human relationship with nature

PAUL DONOVAN recommends an excellent stage adaptation of Stephen King’s classic portrayal of the the injustice of the US prison system

Labour councillor PAUL DONOVAN wonders why the right-wing party gets so much more media attention than it seems to merit