WATCHING this adaptation felt like like curling up with a mulled wine in front of a log fire.

Mike Maran’s skilled and captivating storytelling of the Charles Dickens classic put me right in the mood for Christmas.

He was both narrator and actor as he brought Ebenezer Scrooge and other characters to life amid a simple scene set up to look like the main character’s house.

Maran brought schoolchildren from the audience on stage to give added spirit to Fezziwig’s Christmas party and enlisted the help of musician Norman Chalmers to play the role of Scrooge’s assistant Bob Cratchit.

Chalmers played the concertina, a tin whistle and a thumb piano with such skill that combined with Maran’s larger than life storytelling the production felt much bigger than it was.

The score was written by Alison Stephens, who previously toured over the UK with Maran performing their adaptation of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

She died of cancer before getting to perform this show but wanted it to go ahead and Maran and Chalmers should feel confident they did it justice in pulling off a very entertaining show.