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EBENEZER Scrooge boards Brunel’s ss Great Britain on Thursday (December 4) to join in the festive preparations. |
Mr Scrooge will visit the Victorian ship before trying out the traditional decoration and gift-making activities taking place on board over the next two weekends (December 6, 7, 13, and 14).
The Christmas events at Brunel’s ss Great Britain include Santa, mulled wine, warm roasted chestnuts, and carols around the piano in the Promenade Deck (all included in admission).
Scrooge, and fellow cast members, will be taking time out of their busy rehearsals for ‘A Christmas Carol’, set in Dickensian Bristol, at the Tobacco Factory Theatre.
The gift-making workshops at Brunel’s ss Great Britain will include Victorian decoupage-style jewellery boxes and walnut shells covered in gold with secret messages inside – ideal for Christmas tree decorations and presents.
The technical services team at Brunel’s ss Great Britain, in good Christmas spirit, are also providing authentic dockyard props for the stage set of ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Brunel’s ss Great Britain and the Tobacco Factory are both key players in Bristol’s cultural scene. The ss Great Britain and ‘A Christmas Carol’ (running at the Tobacco Factory from December 11 to January 18) have much in common.
- The ship was launched in 1843, the year Charles Dickens published ‘A Christmas Carol’.
- ‘A Christmas Carol’ and the ss Great Britain both caused a massive stir in Victorian society. The ss Great Britain revolutionised travel, and the book transformed Christmas, reflecting the middle classes’ desire to reinvigorate the festive season.
- The first commercially available Christmas card was produced in 1843. And Prince Albert, who launched the ss Great Britain is widely seen as responsible for making a number of Christmas traditions fashionable in Victorian society.
The play, as adapted by Toby Farrow, introduces audiences to a Scrooge, thwarted in his ambitions to become a world-class inventor, perhaps inspired by the great engineer.
But where Isambard Kingdom Brunel was lavish, and his ship features many beautiful gold decorations, Ebenezer gave his surname to the mean and miserly.
The ss Great Britain Trust’s Assistant Education Officer Claire Champion said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming Mr Scrooge on board ship and involving him in our Christmas preparations. Of course we will need to check that he does not leave with the gold leaf we intend to use for the children’s gift-making workshops!
“Admission to Brunel’s ss Great Britain also allows for free unlimited return visits, which appeals to the inner Scrooge in all of us. And Christmas activities are included in admission!”
Marketing Manager for the Tobacco Factory Theatre Megan Farrow said: “This Christmas the Tobacco Factory presents a lively new adaptation of the heart-warming family favourite ‘A Christmas Carol’.
“Set against a backdrop of Dickensian Bristol, we felt it was only right to ask Mr Scrooge and fellow cast members to visit Brunel’s ss Great Britain.
“Scrooge didn’t need much persuading, especially when he discovered his gift ticket allowed for free unlimited return visits for a year!”
- Find out more about the Christmas events, including of ‘A Cracking Christmas’ family fun (December 6, 7, 13, and 14), Christmas Lunches (December 17) and Christmas Parties (December 10, 11 & 16),
- Find out more the Burn’s Night Banquet (January 24)
- For information on ‘A Christmas Carol’ (December 11 to January 18) please log on to www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com.
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