Last Updated on December 5, 2025
A Hit and Miss Hip Hop Adaptation of the Dickens Classic
3.0 out of 5.0 stars“You know Dickens’s Christmas tale of the miser Scrooge, his clerk, Cratchit, the penniless boy called Tiny Tim, and the visits of the three ghosts?” A female voice asks, as video animation draws white figures on the darkened scrim that obscures the stage.
“Well”, the voice goes on, “this is not that story!”
Thus starts ZooNation’s Ebony Scrooge, a hip hop show loosely inspired by Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, adaptations of which are sure to pop up pretty well everywhere to herald the festive season year after year.
The stage of Sadler’s Wells East is briefly taken over by the joyous, colourful spirit of Christmas, themed sweaters and all, as the ZooNation ensemble launch into an energetic introductory street dance.
But, to coin a phrase, this is not that story – or not yet. This is, for now, the story of Ebony Scrooge, a glamorous, hard-as-nails fashionista (think Cruella de Vil, though the dark glasses may suggest a real-life role model), who made her name with monochrome haute couture creations, and has just cancelled Christmas, so her put-upon workers can get her next collection ready for the catwalk.
Bob (Cratchit) is hopelessly in love with Ebony, but is predictably ignored; Ebony’s orphaned niece, Freddie, the only character wearing colour in Ebony’s black and white universe, is desperate for affection, but finds none.
Jo Scotcher’s elegant and versatile set design – a frame of full height, airily spaced neon tubes enveloping the stage – combines with Charlie Morgan Jones’s atmospheric lighting design to establish a gloomy interior, stripped of all joy.
Ebony’s entrance is delayed for maximum effect. She may put the fear of god into her staff, but soon it’ll be her turn, as the sinister ghosts of present and future appear to haunt her.
Act I ends on this dark note; Act II, though, comes to vivid life when the ghost of the Past transports Ebony to Dominica and her origins, which she tried so hard to forget. There, everything is light, colour and joy, and the choreography cleverly incorporates many elements from local folk dances into the basic hip hop frame.
Reminded of her story and who she really is, Ebony has a sort of damascene conversion; Bob gets his woman, Freddie finds a family, the workers earn some respect and the new collection, stylishly incorporating colour, takes to the catwalk (Natalie Price’s costume design is one of the highlights of Ebony Scrooge).
As adaptations go, all that makes sense, but the problem is, by that point I had ceased to care, for although the dancing numbers are superb, and superbly executed by a dozen remarkable dancers, the show’s structure is poor and doesn’t make for sustained engagement.
ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company has been going for over 20 years and during that time has developed a unique line in groundbreaking, thrilling narrative hip hop works. To mention but a couple that I found exhilarating, Sylvia told the story of the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst in a show that never flagged. The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party returned to the stage last year, blending zany fun and brilliant hip hop dancing in a show that left me quite breathless.
Ebony Scrooge is the first mainstage production by ZooNation’s Associate Artistic Director Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe, and her inexperience shows in both the slow pace of the narrative and the lack of cohesion between storytelling and dance numbers. Ah well, reading a long programme interview, I found that Lecointe tried to build in far too much intention: the mentality of Caribbean migrants and their descendants and the struggle of Black women to get somewhere against all odds. Not much of that comes across, partly because, as a character, Ebony is sadly underwritten.
That’s not to say, though, that Leah Hill doesn’t put on a more than competent performance as Ebony Scrooge – she does, as indeed do Malachi Welch as Bob and Portia Oti as Freddie. And the ensemble, all taking on a variety of roles, is terrific.
The musical score comes from Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, best known as the founder and co-director of Boy Blue; I felt it was perhaps below his invigorating best.
So, all in all, a mixed evening, though for the dancing and visuals alone it’s worth a Christmas visit.
Ebony Scrooge is at Sadlers Wells East from 25/11 2025 to 4/01 2026
Sadler’s Wells East
Stratford Walk
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
London, E20 2AR
Looking for a traditional version? Check our review of the much-loved Christmas Carol at the Old Vic.
I was so looking forward to this production. The ensemble and dancing was amazing. I took my neices and nephews aged 7, 8, 14 and 19. Unfortunately the 7 and 8 year old had lost interest after the first interval owing to the lack of auditory interaction between the performers and the audience. However they enjoyed the fun interaction albeit at the end. The 14 and 19 year old said that they enjoyed the performance as they were able to understand the storytelling. Having watched the previous Zoonation Performances this didn’t quite meet my expectations and I was somewhat disappointed that it lacked the sustained momentum for a younger audience. Nevertheless well done to everyone who took part in this creative ensemble.