Topical nods to Nelson Mandela and Nigella Lawson are just some of the new additions to this revival of Anthony Neilson’s 1995 black comedy, reworked into a musical with music by Tom Mills and lyrics by Neilson and director Steve Marmion.
In a warehouse on Christmas Eve, a drug deal is disrupted by an intruder claiming to be an elf separated from Santa’s sleigh. Tied to a chair, he’s now at the mercy of gullible Gary (Navin Chowdhry) and modern-day Scrooge Simon (Craig Kelly), who prefers four-letter obscenities to “bah, humbug”.
Thankfully, there’s little time spent lingering on whether or not he really is an elf and instead the characters jump to the more important question of how to best exploit their captive. Could they use him to grant wishes or perhaps sell off his pixie-dust to Christmas junkies?
Neilson’s script is fast and filthy, dropping in the word “fuck” with manic frequency and piling on bad taste gags about dead children, self-harm and unspeakable acts featuring Pinocchio and Tinkerbell.
While many of the lines are laugh-out-loud funny, the plot meanders and the music, mostly spoke-sung, is forgettable.
The cast’s comedic delivery can’t be faulted, though, with Craig Gazey standing out as the imprisoned elf. His whiny voice and bewildered expression get some of the biggest laughs, yet his unabashed sincerity also gives the production a glimmer of goodwill. The Night Before Christmas certainly isn’t one for the children but there is more festive spirit at its heart than the shock humour suggests.
Until Jan 5 (020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)
