A one-man performance of Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is set to thrill a festive audience in Worcester and Malvern, this December.

The classic tale has been adapted and performed by Nick Wilkes, who was the first Writer in Residence at Malvern Theatres since George Bernard Shaw.

A spokesman said: “Directed by Jon Legg Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is one of the most beloved books in the English language and has become a classic Christmas tale for generations of grown-ups and children alike.

“Brought to life in an astounding one-man performance by actor and writer Nick Wilkes, this intensely dramatic and profoundly heart-warming adaptation of this beloved festive tale is storytelling at its finest.”

A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843 on December 19, and by Christmas Eve the first edition had sold out.

The magic of Dicken’s pen was able to capture not what Christmas was really like in the 1840s, one of the hungriest and most unsettled decades of the Victorian period, but how Christmas might be, and into the mix he added an unforgettable supernatural element, and the hope of personal redemption.

The spokesman said of the Worcester show: “For over two decades Nick Wilkes has appeared in countless productions both in the UK and overseas working in classical and contemporary drama, musical, pantomime and weekly rep, working alongside names as diverse as Charlton Heston and Simon Callow through to Keith Harris and Orville the Duck!

“Nick has written and produced twenty-four of his own plays to date. These have played in many venues around the country, from small studio theatres and larger theatres to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. “

The date for the diary is Thursday December 19 at 7.30pm at The Huntingdon Hall and on December 20 and 21 at Malvern Theatres.

Box Office for Huntingdon Hall: 01905 611427 and www.worcesterlive.co.uk

Malvern Theatres: 01684 892277.