Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at the Kings Theatre

Portsmouth has a natural claim on any production of A Christmas Carol, and Mischief Theatre is leaning into it. From 24 to 28 November, their Christmas Carol Goes Wrong lands at the Kings Theatre in Southsea, a Grade II* listed building with room for 1,450 people. The show is presented by Kenny Wax and Stage Presence, and it follows the same formula that made The Play That Goes Wrong a hit: a well-meaning amateur drama society attempts a classic, and the whole thing falls apart in front of the audience.

The Cornley Amateur Drama Society is back at it, this time taking on Charles Dickens' 1843 ghost story. The Guardian called it a Dickensian disaster to savour, and WhatsOnStage described it as an irresistible Christmas treat. The plot, if you can call it that, centres on the Cornley crew battling miscommunication, set delays, actors missing in action and a feud over who gets to play Scrooge. It is written by original Mischief members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, and directed by Matt DiCarlo, with Dave Hearn returning as Max for the 2026 production. There is one first for this version: audiences see the Cornley players rehearsing and interacting before the performance collapses, with jokes that need that detailed set-up to land.

For anyone who has never seen a Mischief show, the appeal is the engineered chaos. The company was founded in 2008 by Lewis, Sayer and Shields while they were drama students at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and they have built a reputation on collapsing scenery and missed lines. The Play That Goes Wrong won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2015, and since then they have added Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery to their list, with shows running in the West End for more than a decade. The three founders are all still involved: Henry Lewis co-wrote and starred in the original run, Jonathan Sayer is the company director, and Henry Shields won the Olivier for his role in the first show.

There is a nice local connection to the material as well. Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, on Norfolk Street, and wrote A Christmas Carol in six weeks in late 1843, aiming for a Christmas release. The first run of 6,000 copies sold out in a week, though he walked away with only about £250 after production costs. Mischief is not exactly working at that scale, but the spirit of a festive disaster is right up their street.

On the practical side, tickets start at £25, with a £2 concession for OAPs and under-16s and a £5 discount for groups of ten or more. The show runs about two hours and twenty minutes including the interval and is suitable for ages eight and up. There are seven performances over the five days: Tuesday 24 November at 7.30pm; Wednesday 25 November at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, with the 2.30pm show being BSL signed; Thursday 26 November at 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Friday 27 November at 7.30pm; and Saturday 28 November at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. It is a short run, so if you want to see the Cornley players fail in person, it is worth picking a date early.