Review: Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, UK tour | Glasgow - Mischief Comedy have created a Christmas Cracker
- Lisa in the theatre
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 18 hours ago
Mischief Comedy's brand new 'Goes Wrong' show is on tour across the UK, and this week has arrived in Glasgow. Christmas Carol Goes Wrong sees Charles Dickens' classic tale get the chaotically brilliant Mischief treatment. Read my review below.
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong ★★★★☆
Review: 18 February 2026 | King's Theatre, Glasgow
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is the latest 'Goes Wrong' play' from Mischief Comedy, the mega-talented company behind 'The Play That Goes Wrong', 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong', 'The Comedy of Spies' and a show I loved but that never gets any press - 'The Mind Mangler.'
Their brand-new comedy caper sees the return of the hapless Cornley Amateur Drama Society as they prepare to stage Charles Dickens' festive classic, A Christmas Carol.
Written by original Mischief members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, 'Christmas Carol Goes Wrong' makes Ebenezer Scrooge's moral lessons and redemption arc even more torturous for him. This Scrooge has to navigate a bumbling clerk, ghosts who are a health and safety risk, and a horrifying Tiny Tim, as he learns to be generous and kind.
Unlike the other 'Goes Wrong' shows, this one has a bit of setup in the beginning as we join the members of Cornley AmDram society during the audition process and production meetings for their next play.
Long-suffering director Chris Bean (Daniel Fraser) is frustrated by the lack of talent at the auditions and so casts himself in the title role of Scrooge. Experienced but overconfident actor Robert Grove (Will Bishop) will stop at nothing to take the spotlight away from him. Theatre tech Trevor (Chris Leask) is entirely unbothered about equipment failing - it's natural selection. While Dumile Sibanda's Annie tries to keep the meetings on track and the group organised, is anyone actually paying attention to the mock set design?
Yes the glorious chaos of 'Christmas Carol Goes Wrong' starts backstage, well before curtain-up, and it's wonderful! Pay attention during this part because the setup more than pays off later on, and it permits us a gratifying insight into just why Cornley's ambitious productions go so wrong.
Remarkably for a full-length comedy play, all of it feels fresh, and every joke lands
Despite their original masterpiece, The Play That Goes Wrong, continuing to play for its eleventh year at its home in London's West End, it's the original members of Mischief Comedy who bring this new show on tour across the UK.
Jonathan Sayer's delicious creation, Dennis, the friendless, budding actor who can never remember his lines, is back in magnificent form, reading lines from all manner of props and messing up spectacularly. I missed Henry Lewis in the role of Robert Grove (I was lucky enough to catch him in previews in Manchester), but understudy Will Bishop did an excellent job of filling his impressive shoes and emulating his booming voice.
Daniel Fraser's exasperated and deranged director, Chris, is phenomenal. The outstanding Fraser does much of the heavy-lifting in the straight role of someone determined to put on a successful production this time.
But the entire company excel in this tightly choreographed production. We come to know the members of The Cornley Amateur Drama Society better in this show, and even learn about some of their traumas from performing in prior Cornley calamities. Mischief Comedy are the experts at squeezing as many laughs as possible out of every scene and every line of dialogue while writing fully realised, endearing characters.
There are many smart, laugh-out-loud moments in 'Christmas Carol Goes Wrong 'and, remarkably for a full-length comedy play, all of it feels fresh, and every joke lands. But sometimes it's the silence that hits hardest. The actor's facial expressions as they pretend to be surprised and horrified at what is unfolding around them are sublime. Kudos to Director Matt DiCarlo and the writers who are rewarded for leaving room for the audience to catch on and erupt with laughter.
Long live The Cornley Amateur Drama Society
Powerful too in 'Christmas Carol Goes Wrong' are the visual gags. Libby Todd's stage design is incredible. The sets for these "Goes Wrong" shows have to be some of the most detailed and complex on the UK stage today, on tour or otherwise. There are so many moving parts and props expertly timed to go wrong, and in this production, a number of inspired, major set pieces that elicit fabulous belly laughs from the crowd as they are rolled into place.
A comedy this may be, but the production values are flawless. Everything that's meant to go wrong, does, at the right time, in superbly choreographed, devastating fashion. The pace never lets up, and the quality never falters.
No one does this type of comedy like Mischief. They are the masters of dangerous, impactful, gloriously clever comedy plays. 'Christmas Carol Goes Wrong' is another triumph for Mischief. Long live The Cornley Amateur Drama Society - I can't wait to see what they do next. ★★★★☆
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong plays the King's Theatre, Glasgow until Sunday! 22nd February 2026. Tickets via ATG Tickets here: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/christmas-carol-goes-wrong/kings-theatre-glasgow/
MORE: The full cast info for Christmas Carol Goes Wrong UK tour can be found here: https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/post/christmas-carol-goes-wrong-cast
MORE: Also playing in Glasgow this week - Midsomer Murders: The Killings at Badger's Drift. You can read my review here: https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/post/midsomer-murders-play-review
