'We want to make theatre accessible for all': Gosport production company offers free Christmas show
The tickets for A Christmas Carol are free, with donations encouraged if you can
A production company in Gosport is putting on a free Christmas show to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the Christmas spirit.
Break A Leg Company, lead by Becky Ebsworth and Jenny Rainbird, is doing a two show run of Dickens' classic story, A Christmas Carol, at St Mary’s Church in Gosport, and tickets are free to all.
“We want to make theatre accessible for all,” said Ms Ebsworth. “The cost of living has gone up and the cost of a simple theatre ticket has gone up too.
“Even if tickets are only £10 each, that can cost a family £40 or more, which is really not affordable for everybody. The idea with this is it's free to perform with us and free to come and see the show. We want to bring some theatre into Gosport, it's a bit forgotten theatre-wise, nothing really comes our way.
“We just ask for donations if you can, but if you can’t donate we would rather have you there. Refreshments will be on donation as well for everybody to come and enjoy.”
Alongside the performances, there will also be a Victorian Christmas market outside the church for visitors to enjoy before and after the show.
“We are doing shortened productions, each about an hour long,” said Ms Ebsworth.
“We do everything we can to keep costs down - we rehearse for free and repaint old scenery, we get stuff from charity shops.
“We are very lucky, we have been rehearsing in the Green Dragon pub in Gosport and they have given us a private rehearsal space, as well as YourSpace where they are letting us paint the scenery.
“We want people to enjoy something without thinking ‘how am I going to be able to afford this?’. Volunteer donations are what keeps us going.”
There will be two performances of A Christmas Carol at St Mary’s Church, one at 6pm and one at 7:30pm on December 4. The Christmas market outside the church will be open from 5pm to 9pm on the same day.
You can reserve your ticket for the shows here.