Dave Hearn leads Christmas Carol Goes Wrong cast in new rehearsal photos

Mischief has shared a fresh set of rehearsal pictures from Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, showing the new cast hard at work before the comedy tours the country and settles into Wyndham’s Theatre for Christmas. Original Mischief member Dave Hearn is back as Max, and the West End run plays on Charing Cross Road from Friday 18 December 2026 to Saturday 23 January 2027. Christmas Carol Goes Wrong tickets for the London run are on sale now on British Theatre.

The photographs, by Danny Kaan, find the actors among miniature snowy rooftops, scripts and half-assembled scenery. Staying true to the Cornley spirit, Mischief claims the shots were “taken as evidence” and released by mistake.

Who is in the cast?

Hearn, who was in the original line-up of The Play That Goes Wrong and appeared in the BBC series The Goes Wrong Show, plays Max until 23 January 2027. Around him are James Akka as Dennis, Adam Elliott as Chris, Matthew Howell as Robert, Luke Pierre as Jonathan, Aein Nasseri as Trevor, Dumile Sibanda as Annie and Ashley Tucker as Sandra.

The understudies are Billie Hamer, Robert Lane, Claire Lee Shenfield and Jamie Sandersfield, with Jay Olpin covering until 23 January and Josh Patel-Foster joining the cover team from 26 January. When the tour picks up again after London, Olpin steps into the role of Max for the last six venues. Theatregoers in Manchester and Portsmouth will see a different line-up, made up largely of the cast who opened the show in the West End, including writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields alongside Matt Cavendish, Allie Dart, Sasha Frost, Chris Leask and Greg Tannahill.

What is the show about?

The hapless Cornley Amateur Drama Society, whose mishaps fuel the long running Mischief comedies, have set their sights on Charles Dickens and the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. Their set is late, cast members go missing, nobody can agree on cues, and a bitter row breaks out over who gets to play Scrooge. The result is a ghost story falling apart in real time, with all the physical comedy that fans of the Goes Wrong shows expect.

Lewis, Sayer and Shields wrote the play, and Matt DiCarlo, who directed The Comedy About Spies, is in charge again. Libby Todd designs the set, Roberto Surace the costumes and David Howe the lighting, with sound design and music by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite. The show is produced by Kenny Wax and Stage Presence. Its 2025 premiere at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue sold out, as we reported when the London premiere was announced.

It runs for about 2 hours 20 minutes with an interval and is recommended for ages 8 and over. Expect some bad language, innuendo and slapstick violence, plus a moment in the second act when the cast draw in the crowd.

Dates and venue

Wyndham’s Theatre is on Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DA, with Leicester Square the nearest Underground station. Performances usually take place Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, with 2.30pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays and a 7pm show on Sunday evenings. There are no performances on 21, 25 and 28 December or 1 January, and Christmas Eve has a single 1pm show. An audio described performance is at 2.30pm on Sunday 10 January 2027, and a captioned performance at 2.30pm on Sunday 17 January. Find out more about Wyndham’s Theatre.

The UK tour

The tour opens at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on Tuesday 27 October 2026, then heads to Norwich, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Portsmouth and Leeds before the London run. After Wyndham’s it continues to York, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle and Cambridge, where it finishes on 7 March 2027. Selected regional dates are listed on our Christmas Carol Goes Wrong UK tour page.

British Theatre has West End performances on sale from 19 December through to the final show on 23 January 2027, so it is worth choosing a date early for the Christmas weeks. See Christmas Carol Goes Wrong dates and tickets.