Things You Might Not Know About A Christmas Carol

The Old Vic auditorium is transformed for the show, with seating surrounding the stage to fully immerse you in the story. You can book for Stage Stalls seating, which offers an incredible lookout on the rest of the auditorium from what is usually the back of the stage – ordinarily a view only experienced by cast members. And we promise you won’t be pulled from your seat to join in the ceilidh dancing!

When you arrive to take your seats for the show, you’ll be transported back to Dickensian London, with live music on stage and street-hawkers offering you (complimentary) mince pies and satsumas. Every Christmas, we get through about 40,000 mince pies. 

It’s a rare time you’ll sit at The Old Vic and not see our iconic chandelier above you, but we give it a few months off for these beautiful lanterns to hang above the audience – part of Hugh Vanstone’s lighting design and Rob Howell’s set design (both Tony Award-winning!).

Over the past seven years, A Christmas Carol audiences across the globe have raised over £1.5 million for deprivation-focused charities. Previous charities have included Field Lane, The Felix Project, Coram Beanstalk, FoodCycle, FareShare and City Harvest London. This year, The Old Vic will raise money in aid of Waterloo Foodbank throughout the run of A Christmas Carol. The charity, which has its base minutes from The Old Vic, will be the recipient of donations at the end of every performance throughout the show’s run.

In the heart of Lambeth and Southwark, The Old Vic spent its formative years as the backdrop to Dickensian London, described by Dickens in 1850 as an ‘up-and-coming theatre’ in Waterloo. Find out some of the areas nearby that inspired Dickens to write A Christmas Carol.